Eventually, Cox realized that he hadn't actually seen Stephen and Sarah since... Jordan's sorting, wasn't it? Given that he theoretically considered them friends, and that they lived in the same House (well, Stephen officially and Sarah unofficially), that was probably not really acceptable. He decided to take the opportunity to go say hi, leaving Lily and Ed to geek about charms or whatever for a bit.
On the way over, he was slightly sidetracked by one of Homsar's outbursts, and he was still a bit distracted when he approached them. "So.. I'm totally not the only one who sees Staypuft over there, right?" he asked, by way of an icebreaker.
Stephen snorted. "Oh, come now, Cox." One might note he had not called the man 'Perry' once in their entire conversation, though they had been on a first-name basis. "You may drop the pretense now that the woman has been safely Sorted."
Cox hadn't noticed before, but now the fact was starting to creep into his mind, accompanying Stephen's derisive bluntness. Was Stephen... angry at him about something? Something about Jordan? What in the hell was going on? "Come again?" he asked, his confusion open and frank now. He felt like he was in over his head tonight or something.
At the point, Sarah was starting to feel embarrassed. She had taken Cox seriously because they were at Hogwarts and a demon was no stranger to her than a tentacled alien at that point. Now, he was confused and Stephen was angry and... ugh.
"You told me she was a demon at her Sorting," Sarah said, not looking up from her glass. "That's what Stephen is talking about and that's why saying her heart is packed in ice is not helping the conversation."
Stephen put an arm around Sarah. He read her tone and movements as indicating embarrassment at her gullibility, and his gesture was intended as comfort. That it projected a sort of angry protectiveness might have been accidental. To Cox he said nothing. His opinion should be evident.
The gears of his mind were turning, but nothing was clicking. "Yeah, I know I did, but so the hell..." Something clicked. He cut off, staring at her, and then laughed. "Oh, my God, you... you did not actually think I meant that for real, did you?" The idea that someone would actually mistake Jordan for a real demon was completely priceless. "I want to frame this moment and just... hang it up, right over the fireplace, or maybe right next to Jordan's door so she has to see it every time she walks down the hall."
Glass in hand slammed loudly down on the bar top and Sarah whirled on her stool to look at Cox. She did feel embarrassed for believing him and upset that she had gotten Stephen angry at him but that was set aside as her temper flared. In her embarrassed state, she was honestly seeing this at Cox laughing at her and was quick to jump to that.
"I did happen to believe you, you were carrying on like she was evil incarnate and we do happen to go to a school where demons can walk around and fuck with whoever they want, a school full of every creature and human imaginable," she spat angrily, temper tinged with her further embarrassment and a sensitivity to 'demons'. "What reason did I have to believe you were kidding the way you were contorting like she was capable of melting the skin off your face. I was playing along then to calm you down so you didn't have a stroke and end up in the hospital wing and then get JD as upset as you were over him being there!"
Cox went from practically giggling with glee to once more bewildered and alarmed in the space of about the split-second it took for Sarah's glass to slam down against the bar. He stared at her as she yelled at him, then shook his head, frowning. He did not like being yelled at, and irritation was quickly beginning to rise in his gut.
"Well, I just don't know," he retorted to Sarah, brows arching. "The part where we're both normal people, maybe, for a given definition of normal at least, the part where I was married to her... I don't know, how about the part where I was obviously joking?" He smacked his forehead, then threw his hands up into the air. "I mean, you were laughing, in case you don't remember! In fact, at the time I seem to remember you thinking it was pretty hi-Goddamn-larious, and--don't lie--because I know it was." He folded his arms, frowning deeply at her.
At that, Sarah hopped off her stool and glared up at him, eyes flashing. "It's none of my business if you were inclined to marry demons, I sure as hell wasn't judging you for it!" she growled angrily. "You seemed completely off about her being there and I was trying to distract you! Yes, the miming was funny, but that doesn't change I still thought you actually meant it when you were," and here she began to re-enact just the same face-melting, child-eating miming he had done that had been so convincing at the time, "doing this! I don't appreciate being laughed at for my own guillibility, thankyouverymuch, Doctor Cox!"
Stephen's automatic reaction -- to get really, really angry in no time at all -- was forestalled by Sarah's even more swift anger. Thus prevented from leaping into the fray, he had moments to listen to each side of the exchange. He looked back and forth, wondering whether Sarah yet had enough Charms experience to Accio the Beretta from wherever she was keeping it at the moment. He knew she was presently unarmed.
Setting down his glass of Madeira, he rose and moved to Sarah's side. One hand reached for her arm, not to hold her back, just to provide a tangible reminder of his presence and support. "Sweetheart, I think there is a slight possibility that for once, Cox did not intend to be an ass."
Sarah did not shrug Stephen off or even consider it, she knew he was there to support her. She appreciated it and she knew he would know that, so she kept right on glaring at Cox, the expression a mixture of embarrassment, hurt and anger at being mocked, ready to nod at whatever Stephen would say, except... what?
The glare she was directing at Cox turned to confusion at Stephen's words and she turned her head to look at him, clearly at a bit of a loss. From her perspective, Cox had been laughing the fact she had believed him, and wasn't Stephen still angry the man had lied?
Stephen had, in his time, been called upon for certain diplomatic tasks. He could untangle this misunderstanding if he cared enough to do so. Whether he would -- that remained to be seen. After all, his own allegiance here was obvious. Should Cox insult Sarah, the outcome would not be good. Should Sarah demand reparations for the insult she felt she had already sustained, Stephen would first allow her to pursue it herself rather than intervening. He had learned well that she preferred to defend her own honour, and she did now have the Beretta. However, if she retreated in embarrassment ...
There was also the possibility that she wished to see the two men duel it out in the mudpit togged out in leather trousers, judging from the last Secrets Board. Stephen would rather avoid that if possible.
"Cox, given your winning personality, it is completely understandable to assume only a genuine demon would marry you. Will you swear you did not deliberately mislead Sarah?"
Suddenly Jordan arrived behind Perry, Sarah, and Dr. Maturin, seemingly out of nowhere, like the demon she had been accused of being. She seemed happy, like a kid at Christmas, and her lips were curled into a devilish smirk. "Ooh, a fight. Is this one going to end in the mud as well?" She looked from Perry to Sarah, and to Dr. Maturin, before clapping a hand on Perry's shoulder and leaning over to whisper in his ear. "You have an ass for leather, though."
That appearance from nowhere unsettled Sarah just a tiny bit, especially in her current state of confusion. Just great. Now she had Cox laughing at her for believing him, and here was the ex-wife being accused arriving like she had been summoned like Beetlejuice... had her name been said three times? In fact, the very person Cox had wanted to frame her gullibility for and show it around whenever he could. The fact that the woman had made her mad enough to Squib her at the sorting was not helping, nor was the fact she had even considered Squibbing to help the man laughing at her.
"Mud?" she said, shaking her head firmly in the negative. "Oh no, if I feel the need to defend myself further, I'm not having a mud duel, nor am I encouraging any mud duels with these two," she said, slanting a look at Stephen. If she wanted to see leather trousers on him, it was not going to be in a mud pit with other men. Grrr.
Stephen caught that look and knew immediately what it meant. He shot back a narrow-eyed look that tried to convey Dear God, if I were ever to re-enact the slash fanfiction it would never, ever, ever be with Dr Cox. You have nothing to worry about.
"Oh, good God!" Cox jerked back, staring in horror at Jordan; then sucked in a breath and folded his arms, giving her a deeply suspicious look. "How do you do that?" he demanded. "Seriously, I have yet to be able to figure it out. Did we accidentally summon you, is that it?" he asked sharply, apparently echoing Sarah's train of thought. He grinned. "Does that mean I can banish you, too?" He made a little "poof" gesture at her.
Without waiting for her reply, he turned back to Sarah and Stephen, rolling his eyes. "Crazypeople, this is my ex-wife, Jordan. Despite her capacity for horrible, soul-sucking evil, I am told that she is, in fact, human." He eyed Jordan critically. "Well, the parts that aren't made of plastic."
On the way over, he was slightly sidetracked by one of Homsar's outbursts, and he was still a bit distracted when he approached them. "So.. I'm totally not the only one who sees Staypuft over there, right?" he asked, by way of an icebreaker.
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"You told me she was a demon at her Sorting," Sarah said, not looking up from her glass. "That's what Stephen is talking about and that's why saying her heart is packed in ice is not helping the conversation."
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"I did happen to believe you, you were carrying on like she was evil incarnate and we do happen to go to a school where demons can walk around and fuck with whoever they want, a school full of every creature and human imaginable," she spat angrily, temper tinged with her further embarrassment and a sensitivity to 'demons'. "What reason did I have to believe you were kidding the way you were contorting like she was capable of melting the skin off your face. I was playing along then to calm you down so you didn't have a stroke and end up in the hospital wing and then get JD as upset as you were over him being there!"
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"Well, I just don't know," he retorted to Sarah, brows arching. "The part where we're both normal people, maybe, for a given definition of normal at least, the part where I was married to her... I don't know, how about the part where I was obviously joking?" He smacked his forehead, then threw his hands up into the air. "I mean, you were laughing, in case you don't remember! In fact, at the time I seem to remember you thinking it was pretty hi-Goddamn-larious, and--don't lie--because I know it was." He folded his arms, frowning deeply at her.
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Setting down his glass of Madeira, he rose and moved to Sarah's side. One hand reached for her arm, not to hold her back, just to provide a tangible reminder of his presence and support. "Sweetheart, I think there is a slight possibility that for once, Cox did not intend to be an ass."
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The glare she was directing at Cox turned to confusion at Stephen's words and she turned her head to look at him, clearly at a bit of a loss. From her perspective, Cox had been laughing the fact she had believed him, and wasn't Stephen still angry the man had lied?
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There was also the possibility that she wished to see the two men duel it out in the mudpit togged out in leather trousers, judging from the last Secrets Board. Stephen would rather avoid that if possible.
"Cox, given your winning personality, it is completely understandable to assume only a genuine demon would marry you. Will you swear you did not deliberately mislead Sarah?"
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"Mud?" she said, shaking her head firmly in the negative. "Oh no, if I feel the need to defend myself further, I'm not having a mud duel, nor am I encouraging any mud duels with these two," she said, slanting a look at Stephen. If she wanted to see leather trousers on him, it was not going to be in a mud pit with other men. Grrr.
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Without waiting for her reply, he turned back to Sarah and Stephen, rolling his eyes. "Crazypeople, this is my ex-wife, Jordan. Despite her capacity for horrible, soul-sucking evil, I am told that she is, in fact, human." He eyed Jordan critically. "Well, the parts that aren't made of plastic."
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