(2 of 2) Rangiku & Ed: The Bonding Saga Begins (Closed/Completed over AIM)

[bring_me_sake]

Name(s): Rangiku, Ed
Location: Charms classroom
Day: 27
Time: During afternoon class time.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Part Two - read Part One HERE
Rangiku's text appears in black, Ed's in blue. 

Without a word, Ran swished her wand and cast a drying spell so that Ed and his automail were soaked for the shortest amount of time possible. She walked over and offered him her hand to help pull him up. "The defensive is trickier than the offensive, huh?" Catching his gaze, her eyebrows rose a little. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Edward grasped her hand and got to his feet. His hair looked very different loose like that. He sighed and pushed it out of his eyes and grasped his wand tightly again. "I have to keep trying that..." It kind of bugged him he wasn't good at something.

Rangiku bent down to pick up his hair tie and held it out to him. "Don't worry about it, you'll get it. You need to protect your important people, right?" She gave him a look of total understanding. "Me too. So we'll both get better."

With that, Edward performed an amazingly precise bit of charmwork. "Texo." A soft spell, he braided his hair with magic and tied it off one-handed. "I'm more likely to use my fists or a weapon then magic probably. It's instictive that way. But it can't hurt to get better. I want better marks."

"Hey, what was that?" Rangiku had been going to get into how fighting with magic and fighting with other things were equally valuable, and very powerful if you could use them together, but now she was more interested in the spell Ed had just done. "That would've taken a lot of precision and control, whatever it was." She was looking at him with interest. "Edward Elric, have you been holding out your Charms abilities from me, hmm?"

Edward blushed lightly. "Texo." He repeated. "It means plait...I use it to braid my hair if I'm short on time or can't. I can also do up clothing and tie shoelaces?"

"Texo, huh?" Rangiku turned around, and grinned as she spotted something at the back of the classroom. It was a mirror, mostly covered by a beautiful cloth draped over it. With a flick of her wand, the cloth fell back from the mirror and slid to the floor. "Show me that again," she said even as she walked towards the mirror and sat in a chair. "Can you cast it on my hair? I want to watch you do it again." This was great! If Ed could control something this precise, then he could definitely get other stuff. Ran just wanted to see how he moved when he was casting something he was really comfortable with.

"Okay." Ed said and shrugged a bit. He followed her to the mirror. It was good she sat because otherwise she wouldn't be able to see him. All the same, he raised his hand up to his head at least so she could see him in the mirror. The motions were small, fluid. "Texo." He cast and watch her hair braid itself. The process was precise and gentle.

It was interesting watching Ed move, his movements seemed more muted than her own, which tended to verge on flamboyant. Rangiku turned that thought over in her mind. With dueling, it helped to keep your motions muted, so that your spells were less predictable - she had had to adjust to that as an Auror, although her movements had become more pronounced in order to exhibit them for students... and just because it was fun to do it that way. "Ed, I think I have an idea."

"Oh Professor, I don't think you should braid your hair more often, it doesn't really suit you." Edward said honestly, shaking his head a bit.

"Eeeeeeeh?" Confused, Rangiku stared for a second. "Oh! No! ... Wait, really?" With a slight frown, Rangiku regarded herself in the mirror. "You don't think it looks good?" She twisted slightly to get a better angle.

"No, your hair's really wavy." Edward answered. "It's better left loose."

She pouted slight and started running through the braid with her fingers. "Maybe if I used a straightening spell it'd work better, then. A girl can't go getting stuck in the same styles now, can she?" The blonde grinned, starting to think through what straightening charms she knew - she hadn't used one in a while - before she shook her head. "Gorgeous though my hair is, that wasn't the point, Mr Elric." He received a gentle poke to the arm from her wand in reprimand.

Ed blushed. "Um, right. Sorry." He blinked. "Right. So you had an idea about my casting then?"

"Mmmhmmm." She pushed herself out of her chair. "You're more comfortable with small movements, right? You have more control that way."

He nodded a bit. "Yeah. It's a little easier. Even in my left, my dexterity's not perfect because I wasn't left-handed."

Rangiku nodded. "So then, we're going to see how we can make all the Charms that you use as simple as possible." She pouted. "Ne, but making things dramatic is more fun." The Charms professor rose her wand with a flourish. "Okay! Show me the your motions for Protego."

Edward went through the motions she had taught them through the years and made like he was casting Protego. His mimicry of her was just that, mimicry. It didn't look like he was terribly comfortable with it.

The blonde noted that the motions looked awkward, and inwardly berated herself for not catching his discomfort sooner. How long had she been teaching him now, after all? This was the third year she'd been at Hogwarts, only catching up to this now was terrible. She shook her long hair free and motioned so they were both in front of the mirror. "That was good, Ed, but that sort of thing looks better on me then it does on you~" She shot him a cheering smile. "Try it smaller. Breaking the motions down to the simplest they can be, you know?" Rangiku demonstrated a much simpler motion. "See?"

He watched her thoughtfully, a little skeptically. "You're sure that's going to cast Protego? It's not the same."

"I know it's not the same, Ed," she replied, tone slightly teasing. "I teach the way I cast because that is what I find works best. But thats for me, not for you. You aren't a ravishingly beautiful former Auror turned Charms professor." Grinning, she demonstrated the motion again. "Come on, it'll work~"

"That's true." Edward smiled a little at the joke and waved his wand, quite a bit more restrained but it was somewhat more comfortable. He decided to try it out. "Protego." He managed to cast the shield quite a bit easier, with a bit less effort involved.

Rangiku bounced happily. "That was good. You don't need to hold yourself back, just go with what feels natural." She demonstrated the simplified and Rangiku-fied versions again. "Make it your spell, hmm?"

"You mean like the three charms I can do." Edward asked thoughtfully.

"Exactly," the Charms professor said with a pleased smile. "You have to take the craft and make it work for you."

Edward suddenly looked rather passionate about charms. He did love a challenge. "Alright, I think I can work on that."

The blonde beamed. It looked like things were really making progress, even if so far the main victory had been getting Ed to a place where he felt like he could challenge the spells and take them on enthuiastically. "Yep! Maybe we can do every few days, ne? I give you spells, and then we can practice - what do you say?"

"Okay Professor." Ed agreed with a bright smile. He was rather pleased with himself after all that.

Rangiku leaned back on a desk, pushing herself up so she was actually sitting on it, and grinned. "I'll look forward to it. Was there anything else I could help you with?"

Edward put his wand away and glanced at her thoughtfully. "Well....Professor...can you tell me about being an auror maybe? Professor Strife mentioned it before he had to leave once and I was sort of curious."

That made her eyebrows rise a little. It wasn't often that the students asked her about when she was an Auror. Actually, she was pretty sure that most of them didn't take her seriously enough to believe it. "Of course. Y'know, Psyche-- Professor Shalice -- is a good person to talk to as well." The blonde tapped her finger thoughtfully against her chin. "Well... there's three years training, and then lots of different divisions and focuses... was there anything in particular you were interested in?" She was assuming the bar crawls after work were not a point of interest for him, and that was too bad.

"Um, well not really, I was just curious about it really. It's not something I really thought about for myself because...well ideally I'd like to hole up somewhere and devote my time to potions, at least, unless I find something better."

"Potions is an important part of being an Auror," Rangiku replied, before rolling her eyes. "Well, it was for other people. I got to work on Charms, right? You could always specialize in potions. There's countless jobs at the ministry. You could probably make something up and they'd employ you," she added with a grin. "I spent a lot of my time making up spells and dueling stuff." Unconciously, her hand drifted to her stomach. "I decided I liked the idea of teaching more, but being an Auror is good work."

Edward shifted uncomfortably after a moment. "I don't think I could do teaching. No one would let me teach them. I mean, I know I helped with Potions the other day but those students didn't have much of a choice. Win says she wouldn't let me teach her because I'd get mad and frustrated and talk over her head."

Rangiku chuckled. "I'm surprised the school let me teach at all, even with my stunning credentials~" Her expression became a little more serious, although her lips were still tugged up into a smile. "Its like the Charms and the Potions. Find whats comfortable for you, not what other people expect you to do or think you'll be good at." She paused and smacked her hand to her forehead. "I should have become a professional chocolate eater!"

The exclamation was so unexpected, Edward actually giggled and quickly covered his mouth, blushing. "Ah, I...I do really like potions."

"Then you should go with what you uh, really do like, ne?" Nudging him with her elbow gently, she cast him a conspiratorial smile. "You go for potions, I'll go for chocolate. Deal?"

Edward  smiled a little back. "Alright...I just like knowing what my options are. But I do know where my strengths lie. I've made some of my own potions already."

The Charms professor nodded. "Everyone likes to know, hmm? And... you have?" She looked impressed. "All I made on my own was Hangover Potion."

He blushed a bit. "Well, you know, some of them aren't complete yet, but the pain potion certainly is. It's not addictive and a lot stronger than...well what is usually used." Ed smiled.

"Still, that's good work, Ed." She dropped a wink. "You'll have to hook me up for my back pain, eh? My girls get so heavy sometimes," Rangiku bemoaned, glacing down at her chest.

Edward turned a rather dark shade of pink at the mention considering he knew what she was talking about, unfortunately. "I...I don't know...it might be a bit strong for something like that. And I don't know how other people who are not me would react to it."

With a helpless sigh, Ran shrug and rested a hand against a forehead, as if she were likely to swoon. "Well it was worth a try~" Letting her hand drop back to her side, she flashed Ed a smile. "You'll have to get to work on something for it."

"Well I mean you could...if you didn't have to do anything in case you get drowsy..." He smiled. "Or perhaps an earlier incarnation would suit the purpose...I did it because it's a worthwhile cause...also I was at one point, addicted to regular potions.

"I have no problem with doing nothing," Rangiku said with a grin. "Especially if its for my health, hmm?" Her smile faded a little. "You were?" What else had Ed been through? "I'm sorry, Ed." Awkwardly, she resecured the bowl of truffles she had early. "More chocolate?"

"Thanks." He ate one. Ed smiled a little and shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal, I mean, I was under care, it was recognized right away for what it was and I was taken off of them. I got something harder, but it still had addictive properties, and I decided I needed something more stable and not addictive. So...I made something. I need it a fair bit and I don't want to deal with something like addiction."

Rangiku smiled softly. "You're a bright kid, Ed." Trying to inject humour, as ever, one side of her mouth quirked up a little more, a cheeky element entering her expression. "I just use sake, myself."

"Well we're not all of age, Professor."

After a moments thought, an eyebrow rose once more. "Ed, does Akabane know about your prosthetics and your potions? Does Howl even?" Suddenly, she was wondering if he was getting the attention he deserved in other fields, beyond her own.

He shook his head. "No...well Professor Pendragon knows about my arm...I showed it to him. He said it would help him help Winry in potions somehow." Ed hesitated. "I shouldn't have mentioned the potion, I probably shouldn't have it."

"If we all didn't have stuff we weren't meant to have, I probably wouldn't have made it through school," Rangiku replied with a wink. "Your secrets safe with me. Just be careful around Akabane, I don't know what he'd do about new potions and that." She scratched the back of her head. Akabane creeped her out at the best of times.

"I don't know either." Edward admitted. "But it's okay, I'll just keep it to myself." He smiled. Perhaps he wasn't getting any other special attention but following the status quo with copious amounts of study seemed to be okay for him. It wasn't as though Edward could ask for harder work from his favourite courses, even some that weren't because he didn't think it worked that way. However, little actually challenged him. He was disappointed Cloud left, Cloud was going to try.

"Probably the best thing you can do," his professor agreed. "Not that I'm telling you to lie to teachers, but ot all of them are as great as me," she added. "Just don't go and do anything to make me look bad, hmm? I trust you to make the right decision. Or come get help if you need it." Rangiku punched his shoulder lightly. "And I'll try to keep you out of trouble, all right?" As far as Rangiku was concerned, students should be able to do what they want as long as they didn't hurt each other. It didn't make for rigorous upholding of rules, but it'd be pretty hypocritical if she was as rigid as the others with that kind of thing.

"I won't do anything like that! Of course not." Edward said, looking a bit offended. "Well as long as no one knows about the potion, I'll be fine. I think. I just don't want it taken away." He sighed. "I'll miss Professor Strife. He was going to find me something challenging."

With a laugh, Rangiku barely resisted the urge to ruffle Ed's hair. He looked so funny when he was offended~ then again, when the right mood hit, Rangiku found most things funny. "Don't worry, Ed. If you want you can always keep supplies you're worried about in my office, ne? Then you won't have to worry about getting in trouble for having them." A thought struck her. "Oh! We could say that we're working on a project! Then no one will mind." Actually, the thought of Rangiku recruiting Ed's help for a potion wasn't that far outside the realm of possibility. She had never done well at Potions - Ashe was probably the main reason she was able to become an Auror, because she had practically dragged Ran though that class - and having such an enthusiast would probably mean less work for her. Perfect~
The Charms Professor nodded, smiling slightly sadly. "I'll miss Cloudy too. But hopefully he'll come back." There was a pause. "You know, if you're that interested in a challenge, I'm sure I could come up with something~"

"I think I'm alright for this class for now." Edward said politely for him. "It was just that he noticed what I was reading and his book suggestions were....far below where I read and so he said he'd try and find me a challenge. I was kind of excited about it, but, that's alright. I have books to read...find some or something. Apart from raiding Professor Pendragon's office."

"There's always the restricted section," Rangiku said off-handedly, before shooting a look at Ed. "Not that I'd suggest that, of course"

"I've already been in there, borrowing a book." Edward admitted with a blush. "Sophie caught me putting it back...before the three of us talked." He shifted a bit uncomfortably. "I took the book, it sparked a whole mess of people yelling at me. Unless I come up with a good reason no one will give me a note to read what's there."

Rangiku smiled. Of course Ed would have already been in there, although her smile shifted from on of amusement to more comforting, and she lightly rested a hand on Ed's shoulder for a moment. "My my, people were yelling at you for reading? I normally get the opposite problem," she offered, trying to ellicit a smile. "I never spent much time trying to get into the Restricted Section as opposed to... sneaking into Honeydukes, but if you tell me what you're interested in I could give you a note." She held up one finger, prodding Ed's shoulder as she leaned a little closer. "Nothing too dangerous. But maybe we can come up with something."

"That's just it, I'm interested in everything." Edward said, putting his hands up as he shrugged. "Nothing especially specific except for what I got yelled at for by everyone and I'm starting to think even if I was successful, no one would forgive me. I'm not looking to use the knowledge, I just want to know it. It's...I don't know, bordering on an obsession."

"You have knowledge, I have sake," Rangiku replied easily, idly twirling the finger that had just prodded Ed through a long lock of blonde hair. "And sometimes when I drink too much people yell at me too," she added in woeful sympathy, a melodramatic pout jutting her lower lip. "Or just look disapprovingly. With somepeople that can be worse, you know?" The blonde sighed lightly, before leaning forward so her elbows rested on her knees and resting her chin on her hands. "Knowledge and sake both need to be handled carefully though. I don't want you to go getting a hangover that can't be cured with potion." Her blue eyes were understanding and encouraging. "You're good at history, right? I can skip the thing about knowlegde and power and danger?"

Edward looked thoughtful at that. "I'm not lacking in power, I don't desire any more, I'm fairly certain I'm plenty powerful, for whatever that's worth." He touched his shoulder thoughtfully. "I'm aware how dangerous knowledge can be...temptation...I won't lie, I've had my share of that. It's not the reading that had them mad, although Al does get mad when I read instead of say, eat. But it was what I was reading...temptation."

"Just don't hurt anyone," Ran said, stretching as she yawned. "Ne? You're a smart kid, and you definitely have a lot of potential." With an eyebrow arched, she looked at him with surprise. "You don't eat? Why would-- you're even worse than Ashe," came the slightly huffed reply. "I'll make another deal with you."

Edward blinked and tilted his head to the side. "I eat, I just forget to eat a lot when I'm reading. It's not a big deal or anything, I'm not really wasting away."

Her eyebrow arched further. "You're practically skin and bone." Maybe he wasn't, but that wasn't the point. "You promise to eat and I'll let you get books."

"Well...not quite!" Ed said, flushing a little. He may have been a little underweight, anyone who found out he was only about eighty pounds without the automail was aghast, but he was small damnit! "I..." He frowned a bit, looking thoughtful. "You're worse than Al! I...I guess I can try and remember to eat."

"You could come read with me!" Ran continued, essentially bulldozing over what Ed had said without really processing it. "Then you can have food and books at the same time! It'll be fun~ you can read and eat, I can eat and eat~" She blinked. "Worse than Al? You're so cruel..."

"I...could do that. As long as you don't feed me nothing but junk food." Edward said thoughtfully. "I don't really eat that much of it, I want to beat Al one day in a fair fight."

"I don't eat any junk food," Rangiku said indignantly. "My diet is very well balanced~" If, by well balanced, you meant that everything was covered in sugar. "I'm sure we can figure something out. One day I want to beat Ashe at chess."

Edward's eyes lit up a bit. "Chess is all about strategy, of course, Professor."

"Strategy?" Rangiku made a face, although she grinned almost right away at Ed's enthusiasm. "But what about surprise and impulses, hmm? They help me win duels all the time." It was true - Rangiku's best asset to her skill with spells was her imagination when it came to duels, and how everything came to her almost on impulse. Even Shalice had problems predicting what she was going to do.

"Oh, but surprise doesn't really work in chess, it's all about how you win the game. It's like a battle. In such a small scope of rules and movements, surprise doesn't really fit in, but using strategy and anticipation you can defeat your opponent."

"What if I used a Flash Charm to blind my opponent and switches pieces around?" she suggested jokingly, a mischevous smile tugged at her lips. "That'd be pretty surprising~"

"It's also cheating, and noticeably at that." Edward rolled his eyes. "If you're going to cheat, shifting the bishop on the black from the white axis is one of the easier ways to go about doing that, nudging one piece over when your opponent isn't looking. Cheating is an art form."

Now Rangiku was grinning. "Mmm, a professional. I think we could share some pointers." Her voice was full of amusement. "Maybe you are a Slytherin after all," she added, laughing.

"But Professor, if I give away all my secrets then people might find out. It's bad enough my brother won't play with me anymore." Edward smiled brightly, looking amused. "I think I've beat him at poker far too many times."

"That's true," Rangiku agreed, tapping the beauty spot on her chin thoughtfully. "Ne, if you teach me how to play, I'll take you on in chess." She grinned triumphantly. "I'll even let you win," she added with a wink, although they both knew full well that there would be no 'letting' involved. "We can play chess, and eat, and while I'm figuring out my genius strategy you can read~"

"Alright Professor. Sometimes I can come teach you chess." Edward said with a smirk. "I will be sure to let you be trounced thoroughly. I have a book you know, on strategy, if you want to read it."

There was a wistful sigh. "You're so good to me." Rangiku nodded happily. "It sounds like fun, although I'm not sure about the reading part..." Maybe though, if she could beat Ashe. Maaaaybe.

"We'll have to see." Edward said, looking rather amused. "I think what I miss most about home is a place to do potions. I leave Win's house and go back to ours and work on my potions in the basement. It's kind of a secret place to go."

"Somewhere for potions?" Rangiku pondered. "Maybe we can find somewhere here? The school is big enough for us to find somewhere that'd work." It had provided plenty of places for her to go and nap undisturbed - even one or two her best friends had never known about. "Hmm, you seem to have convinced me to do all kinds of work, Ed. I'm impressed."

Edward smiled again. "Nothing wrong with a little work Professor, I don't think it will kill you. But if it does, I swear I'll avenge your death."

"You better do it with sparkles," she joked, sighed dramatically. "You'd think hard work was one of my House traits, the way everyone goes on about it." Rangiku smiled, and glanced over at the clock. "Hmm, that time already? You might need to get to class." The blonde slid off the table she had seated herself on, and adjuted her scarf. "And Ed? Thanks for your help yesterday. Professor Mattison appreciated it," she added teasingly.

He blushed rather darkly and looked a little self-conscious. "You're welcome Professor." Ed ducked his head a bit and put his wand away before heading to pick up his bag. He paused in the doorway. "It was fun." He slipped out quickly after that, embarrassed.

Rangiku smiled fondly as Ed left, before lazily flicking her wand to restore things to the way they had been before the Slytherin had arrived. She returned to herself, sat, and stared at the paperwork for a moment for deciding instead to rest her head on her arms. After all that, she had earned a nap.