sortinghat_logs | Good mornin' sunshine

WHO: Bruce and YOU
TONE: Ranging from humour to fatigued angst
RATING: Probably not more than PG-13
WHEN: First morning back at school
WHERE: Just outside the Great Hall
WHAT: It's the morning after full moon weekend and Bruce is more than a bit exhausted. He might be more irritable and absent-minded than usual, so what's stopping you from bugging him?
STATUS: Ongoing

Full moon is never fun for Bruce but adding the stress of travel to it had left him more fatigued than usual. If anyone had seen him the day before and how dishevelled he looked then, they'd think he was ready to keel over and die at any second now. All colour was gone from his face save for the even darker shadows around his eyes and the red in his lips, and was that perhaps a glint of green in his eyes when he walked through a beam of sunlight? He needed food but he wasn't too sure he was up to being around people that day, so he hesitated and stared at the entrance of the Great Hall, leaning against a wall for support.

(feel free to answer in action or prose!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bruce glanced up tiredly at Arthur and attempted a smile, removing his glasses for a moment to rub his eyes. "Good morning to you too," he answered tiredly, mentally steeling himself as he straightened for the wall and started walking for the entrance, deliberately not answering Arthur's question.

"Er.. yeah. Morning.." Arthur rubbed the back of his neck and hung back slightly, a small frown on his face.

Normally, he'd be more annoyed than this, but.. something about having a guy sleep on your lap for four hours on a train just took away the ability to be angry at them. For now, at least. So, instead, he straightened his robes and made a few quick steps to catch up, falling into step beside him silently.

Once inside, Bruce paused to glance at the tables, most of them fairly empty due to the early hour and students not yet adjusted to the school schedule. "Hmm, want to join me at Ravenclaw or should I come sit with you at your table?"

With a quiet yawn, he began to scratch at a red weal on his nape just above his collar, waiting for Arthur's response.

It could be guessed, from the expression on Arthur's face, that the question was unexpected. He looked startled for a moment and glanced from one table to the other, then shrugged one shoulder and yes.. yes he did see how Bruce was rubbing at that mark on his neck and he adds it to his mental list of things that are very off about the other boy this morning.

"... I'll come and sit with you," he said, a tiny smile twitching at his lips. David used to make him the same offer, in Arthur's first year. "Thanks."

"No problem," he answered with another yawn, smiling back sleepily and ambling towards the Ravenclaw table - specifically the unoccupied end of it. Once seated he just stared at the food laid out, stomach rebelling a bit, so he sipped some juice to appease it first.

"Did you sleep well? Or were the Ravenclaw kids keeping you up with their excitement?"

"Ah, yeah.." Arthur murmured, following and taking a seat beside the other boy. He didn't look too keen to dive into eating, either. "This Bruce Banner and another twit called Tony Stark. Kept me awake all sodding night."

He shook his head then, doing his best to summon a good-natured smile that fell a little short of where he wanted it to. Mornings were never a good time. "Honestly, though, I never sleep well the first week. I suppose my mind hasn't caught on to the fact that Will isn't here. Ah.. and then there's being so finely tuned to being able to tell when Eriq is staring at me. That's usually enough to wake me up."

Bruce laughs quietly at that and shrugs, nibbling at a piece of toast after some time. "Well, at least I only stuck around for a bit before going to be a good Prefect?"

"Mm, Eriq's stare can be a bit... intense I guess," he murmured, shrugging.

"I'm not sure 'intense' is the word I'd use. He's a decent guy, though his habits are a little..." Odd? Peculiar? Verging on extreme? "... Eccentric."

He smiled, though. Arthur liked Eriq, for all his faults, theatrics and dramatic flouncing. It was hard not to get used to someone after spending five years sleeping in the same room.

"To put it mildly," he quipped with a smile. "He seemed to find the arrival of Ravenclaws interesting at least."

"He would. It's a whole new group of people to psychoanalyse," Arthur said, then grabbed an apple and bit into it, letting out a quiet cough.

"That Herbert is a bit of an odd one. Can't say I don't like his sense of humour though."

"Can't say I feel too comfortable when Eriq starts staring at me... Herbert I'm used to at least," he murmured, shrugging.

"Throw something at him. It works for me, at least temporarily."

He patted Bruce's shoulder, shrugged in kind, and shifted to pour himself some juice.

He chuckled and resumed nibbling on his toast. "I'll remember that for next time."

Good mornin' sunshine

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject