sortinghat_rp | 06 [evening of March 30th]

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06 [evening of March 30th]

Thank God the egg hunt thing is over with. Don't get me wrong. It looked like everyone who was participating was having a lot of fun... when they managed to stay the right shape, size, and species... but I just couldn't get anywhere near those things. After everything that happened with the snakes last month, I think I might still have some latent egg-related trauma. If someone told me I turn beet red or get the thousand-yard stare when big plates of boiled eggs are served at mealtimes, I probably wouldn't be surprised.

It all worked out for the best in the end, though. Avoiding the hunt gave me lots of time to study and practice Apparition. With any luck, I won't be splinching myself when the Trace gets lifted from me tomorrow. Easter just had to fall on my birthday this year, didn't it?

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[He gives him a confused look for a moment then rolls his eyes.]

Oh, for god's sake. I sleep on my stomach. I was merely commenting that knees don't bend in such a way as to permit me to kick you.

[He kicks him under the table.]

It's rather a face-to-face sort of action.

I know what you were talking about, but you have to admit, the way you phrased that was... open to alternate interpretations.

[He winces at the kick. Oh, two can play at that game. He gives his own retaliative kick and... nothing. He furrows his brow and tries again. No dice. Either Sherlock is just that adept at predicting people and dodging their attacks, or...

His eyes narrow into a squint.]

So... my legs might not be quite long enough to kick you. But they tried very hard.

I cannot bother to censor myself for the Tony-minded of the world. I would have a very limited vocabulary indeed.

[He watched John fumble in his seat a few times, not really sure what he was doing, but when John spoke...

It was probably bad form to laugh at the soon-to-be birthday boy but so be it. Repressing the giggle was not an option.]

Shall I offer you my knuckles to rap upon instead?

[He put forth the back of one hand.]

[John looks at the offered hand skeptically for a few seconds. On one hand, it's kind of a patronizing gesture. On the other, his shin does hurt a bit...

No. He can do worse. He can do far, far worse. He can resort to miserable puns.]

I'll pass. Rapping you on your knuckles would make me feel like a nun, and I don't want to get into such a bad habit.

[Sherlock is not going to laugh at that. It was terrible. It was absolutely terrible.

But really, all he has to do is look at John disapprovingly before he cracks into a smile and laughs.]

That is so much worse than anything I could ever inadvertently imply.

[It doesn't take long for John to crack and lapse into a fit of giggles himself.]

It was pretty godawful, wasn't it? But I think the situation called for some very cruel pun-ishment.

[He finally began to settle down a little bit.]

So you're not likely to kick me if the stars happen to align just right and you do actually sleep for once. That's good. You probably already know this, since you've dabbled in being a creeper and have watched me sleep before, but I only kick or thrash around when I have a nightmare. Good thing it's been a long time since I've had one of those.

[Sherlock groans at 'pun-ishment' though he's still chuckling with his breath.]

I've only watched you sleep the once. And by 'watch', I very much mean 'noticed and left alone'. It's good your nightmares have become more a thing of the past. Do you mind terribly my asking about your shoulder?

[Oh. That topic. Before, John didn't like talking about it due to how much he resented that part of his life for making him feel alienated and vulnerable as a Muggleborn. Since Valentine's Day, however, there are some very different feelings associated with his shoulder and the scar. He still doesn't really know what to make of them, but... they are better than the alternative. Even if it's all very confusing and awkward.]

Er... sure? I mean, I don't really see why not. What d'you want to ask about it?

Do you still associate the wound with nothing but bad memories?

[He most certainly has not forgotten the very private, intimate moments where he was allowed to touch the previously off-limits scar tissue. John had seemed of quite a different mind at the time towards his feelings about the scar. It was certainly a curiosity as to whether those feelings had changed with the redaction of the feelings surrounding the experience.]

[What a loaded question. John takes a moment to think about it, nibbling at his lower lip. The wound used to hold only bad memories and feelings, and now it's this big, jumbled soup of conflicted emotions. Finally, he takes a deep breath.]

Not... er, not anymore. I suppose. It used to be all bad, whenever I had to think about it. But now there's just all sorts of stuff attached, and even though a lot of it is really confusing... not all of it is bad.

[Sherlock nodded.]

Well, at least it wasn't a complete mistake then. What's so confusing, though?

[John can feel the blush creeping back, as it usually did when he thought about how Sherlock had touched his scar on Valentine's. And given that that memory had a way of showing up during some very personal and inopportune times, how could it be anything but overwhelmingly confusing?]

It's... it just is. Do the particulars really matter?

No, I suppose not. You just use that word a lot when things involve me.

[Even under the love potion John had made mention of confusion in relation to Sherlock. It's not a trend that seems to be on the decline.]

[John sighs. The last thing he needs is Sherlock taking it the wrong way. But therein lies the problem: Sherlock taking it the wrong way in either direction, while John's still trying to work out his knotted-up feelings as is.]

It's not a bad confusion, but... okay, let me put it like this. You'll get this. You spend your whole life absolutely sure that there's this one thing about you you're completely sure about. No questions, no lingering doubts, just solid certainty. And then something happens and all that gets shaken up a bit. It's normal to be really confused when something like that happens.

You know?

[Sherlock nodded.]

I know very well indeed. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing that could cause confusion but as you don't seem to feel the need to specify, I can only assume it's not really an issue. With any luck I can just keep you too worried about detention, expulsion or death to be bothered with anything else.

If I get this thing sorted out and it's something you ought to know, I'll... well, I'll let you know. That is if it needs sorting out and doesn't just resolve on its own. Dwelling on how confused I am won't help.

[Though it was hard not to dwell a little, especially when bed-sharing is involved.]

Also, congratulations. This is probably the first and only time someone has said something that amounts to "I promise to keep raising havoc" as a promise to help someone feel better.

Well, how confused can you be when the most pressing options are run or face dire consequences?

[Sherlock smiles. He'd like to think he can fix anything with a good enough diversion. So long as John being confused doesn't mean the difference between John being his friend and not being his friend, everything will be just fine.]

Really, if you need help with that one, there's little hope for you.

True. And since I have no intention of letting you get expelled, killed, or both simultaneously, and you have no intention of stopping the things that could get you expelled, killed, or both simultaneously...

[He grins a little. Always masking the fact that he loves their stupid adventures with a veneer of respectability.]

Well, I suppose it's up to me to go along for the ride on the schemes that aren't too terrible and try to knock some sense into you when you come up with ones that really, really are.

You call it sense, I call is stagnation. But so long as you're along for the ride, I don't think it quite matters.

[Sherlock pressed the dessert closer to John. It was his pre-birthday after all.]

I don't think either of us really need all that much schooling. A few important items now that we're old enough to be taught but overall we've digested all we need from Hogwarts. Getting expelled would just be them finally agreeing with me.

[John takes a forkful of the cake and savors it as he listens to what Sherlock says. When he finishes the bite, he points the fork at Sherlock, waggling it to make a point.]

The trouble with that kind of thinking is that it could end up being limiting. I know you want to work in the Muggle world as opposed to the Wizarding one, but you never really know how the future turns out, you know? Actually graduating could make a world of difference.

Like for me, I have to graduate and keep getting decent marks if I want to work for St. Mungo's.

John, I never have to work a day in my life. I can more or less just do whatever I want. I'm only at school at all because I need something to do and I promised Mummy I'd finish.

[John sighs and, when he goes for another bite of the dessert, the motion is subconsciously a little stabbier than perhaps it ought to be.]

That must be a nice, but the very idea of that is completely alien to me. Growing up how I did, I got used to families working jobs with long hours and hoping to make ends meet.

[Sherlock shrugs.]

Nothing in life is entirely free. I may receive a sizable stipend but it is always with the understanding that I represent the Holmes family and am responsible for its reputation. Which, unfortunately, makes me perpetually under Mycroft's thumb. Whereas you are tied to work hours and a boss but outside of work, you can do as you like. Fair trade I suppose.

Yeah... still don't think the two lifestyles are anywhere close to each other. You might chafe at the idea of needing to occasionally smarten up and grudgingly give in to what Mycroft and the family has to say, but that's really nothing compared to the panic that'd ensue in struggling families if even one member lost their job.

[He looks sour for a moment, but shrugs.]

Luckily St. Mungo's pays pretty well. I reckon I'd still try to work there even if the pay would just get me by, but the idea of having a financial safety net for once is pretty damn nice.

It's always fascinating how much money means to people. Money and love are the most prevalent motives for crime, violent crime included. Nothing is ever so good that it cannot be corrupted.

I shouldn't think you'd need to worry much about money, though. If you needed any, you could always have mine.

06 [evening of March 30th]

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