The clowns are back in town

[innocent_insanity]

WHO: Kurloz and people at or around the Ravenclaw table!
TONE: Light, silly?
RATING: PG-13 for language
WHEN: Morning 17th February
WHERE: Ravenclaw table, Great Hall
WHAT: Herbert extended a welcome to Kurloz to join him at the Ravenclaw table whenever for chit-chats. Kurloz takes him up on it.

Look at that clown. All covered in skeleton-like face-paint so early in the morning, and on a Sunday of all days! Unfortunately for the intellectual students of Ravenclaw table, that there clown wouldn't be sitting with his fellow strangers in Slytherin.

Nope, he's on his way to join his buddy Herbert in the pond of blue and bronze!

Cue one lanky teen flopping gracefully next to said Ravenclaw with a broad grin and a wave of his hand.

Comments

[preanimator]

"I'm going to have to run multiple experiments with different animals, which might be difficult. Most students here are really overprotective of their pets." He paused for a few moments as he jotted down a few sentences, then went on, "I suppose I could use some of the owls, but that's nowhere near enough variety. And I'll need readings from people, too, so I'll have to get multiple volunteers in varying states of health."

There was another silence as he looked down at his paper and added an inch or two to his essay, then mused, "Maybe some of the professors would let me take readings on them ... quite a few of them are really old."

He really did have a quite animated face as he talked - the icy blankness disappeared entirely, to be replaced with brow furrowed thoughtfulness, bright and smiling excitement, or wide-eyed empathetic enthusiasm.

[innocent_insanity]

no harm in asking - they're all kindsa open about all sorts of fucking shit around here.

Kurloz turned a page to begin a detailed, almost frighteningly life-like portrait of Herbert smiling.

[preanimator]

"Well, it's educational, and that has to count for something," Herbert declared, then added another paragraph to his essay before finally glancing over at what Kurloz was doing.

" ... what's that?"

[innocent_insanity]

Adding a few darker strokes along Herbert's glasses, Kurloz grinned and held up the picture for the boy to examine. There were still areas to be tweaked and shaded properly, but despite that it was definitely a portrait of Herbert, rare smile and all.

[preanimator]

The smaller boy examined it with a surprised expression. It was very good, an excellent likeness, but he wasn't sure why anyone would want to draw him. Practice, he supposed - one couldn't always just draw beautiful things. "You're very good. You must do that a lot - draw the people around you."

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz's grin turned just a bit bashful as he lowered the book again, getting ready to add more detail to it.

thanks bro! it's fun to do. me mam's way better with it but she does portraits and shit for a living and all so she's gotta be.

[preanimator]

"You should do more practical art. Clinical illustration, what's under the skin, that kind of thing. I bet you'd be good at it," Herbert suggested, looking back down to his essay, and for all that sounded dismissive, he actually meant it as a compliment. The smaller boy didn't generally have much use for art.

[innocent_insanity]

oh i do that shit too!

Kurloz perked even more and flipped a few pages into his sketchbook where his anatomical sketches were, including a few skeletons as well as the internal workings of the human body.

[preanimator]

Herbert glanced up, and then his expression brightened with with interest as he held out his hand. "May I?"

[innocent_insanity]

sure.

Kurloz handed over the book, content to let the boy look through the contents - the disturbing stuff was hidden with the charm anyway. For the most part his art was intricately detailed, and the anatomical sketches could easily be used in biological texts for diagrams for their accuracy.

[preanimator]

Herbert spent quite some time looking at them, his gaze intense. "These are really amazing," he said slowly, as he examined each one, checked the details with his mental diagrams. "You could do this for a living ... "

[innocent_insanity]

Kurloz grinned widely and ducked his head, a bashful blush appearing for a moment on his cheeks.

aw thanks bro! i been thinking of getting into that shit in the future.

[preanimator]

"You should. Where did you get the reference for these?" Herbert asked, finally looking up with a brightly interested expression.

[innocent_insanity]

uh... just a second.

Kurloz got to his feet and went to a series of bookshelves, vanishing for a moment before re-emerging with several large tomes on human biology.

[preanimator]

"Oh, you didn't have to- you could have just told me," Herbert said, smirking a little. "Oh, I have that one! Good choice. You really are quite talented. It's much more interesting than the outsides of people, don't you think?"

[innocent_insanity]

i like to see what makes a motherfucker tick.

Kurloz smiled and set the books down before Herbert before sitting back down.

[preanimator]

"Yes, precisely! Though, technically, it's not the musculoskeletal system which makes a person 'tick', as you say, it's the nervous system and the brain. Neurology is so fascinating." Herbert leaned on his hand with a dreamy sort of look.

[innocent_insanity]

Seeing the look on Herbert's face, Kurloz's shoulders shook as he grinned.

motherfucker, biology is your fucking wife. it's cute.

[preanimator]

"My what? I don't even like girls!" Herbert protested, but his cheeks darkened as he realized what Kurloz was saying. He shook his own head and looked down at his book. "Anyway, it's more reliable than people, and certainly more comprehensible."

[innocent_insanity]

husband then. and it's not always up and reliable, sometimes it gets to be all kinds of unexplainable and miraculous.

[preanimator]

"That's not true - there's always an explanation, we just don't always know what it is. That's why I like it. If you dig hard enough, you can always figure it out eventually. People ... well, sometimes you just never know. People are irrational and unpredictable."

In other words, he doesn't get people, and probably never really will.

[innocent_insanity]

not really - you get your learning on about some fucker and after a while you star realizing they're all pretty fucking programmed one way or another. but i guess that's more a pain in the bulge than what needs be with biology and shit like that.

[preanimator]

"Some people are programmed - a great deal of them, really, I'll agree. But every now and then ... " He shook his head, looking troubled. On the one hand, he had to believe that, because social programming didn't usually lead anyone to liking Herbert, so there had to be some outliers for him to have any friends at all. On the other hand, biological programming was an idea that really appealed to him.

[innocent_insanity]

if you say so.

Kurloz shrugged easily and propped his chin on his hand, watching Herbert and that troubled look on his face.

[preanimator]

Herbert glanced up, catching Kurloz looking at him and blinked, looking particularly vulnerable for a moment. "What?"