Cell-block Tango (open)

Aria clapped her hands together, mismatched eyes sparkling. "Really?" she exclaimed. "I would like that!" She became abruptly serious, again, frowning faintly. "I would have to ask Arsen, first."

Pouting slightly, Aria grinned again. "I don't think he'll mind, though! Black is a good name. And Arsen likes the color black - he said so."

Karma cocked her head to the side. "Why have you got to ask him first? It's your name." She pulled a chocolate frog out of the pocket of her bag and slid it across the table to her. "Here you are, Blondie."

Aria's brows puckered together, mildly perplexed. What Karma said made sense, but Arsen was in charge of looking after her. Djinn had said so right after he made her.

"Arsen found me after I lost my memory," she said, telling the story Arsen had instructed her to. "Buut... it is my name. I won't ask him, first! I'll be Aria Black, now." She smiled happily at her decision.

Aria looked at the frog, then back at Karma. "Thank you," she said, accepting the package. She opened it, giving a startled cry when the frog leapt from her hands to the tabletop. Lunging forward quickly, she grabbed it again, staring at it in surprise and wonder.

"Oh! It died, again," she said, eyes wide in bewilderment.

Karma cocked her head again. Memory loss, that explained it. "It wasn't alive, silly. It's just a spell." Karma held up her own Chocolate Frog, unwrapping it and biting the head off immediately. "Always eat it like this." she said in a small voice, her eyes sparkling with something like tears, but Karma never cried. "It's more humane that way." She slid another across the table, placing one in front of Iva too. "Now, you try."

Iva played with the chocolate frog wrapper, uninterested. It was probably filthy anyway. She tucked in away in her pocket, yawning.

"Why does Arsen control you, Aria?" She asked, "You are your own person. And I am sure he will like it if you are independent."

Setting the once more immobile chocolate, Aria picked up the new one and did as she was instructed. She took a moment to simply enjoy the sweet taste before chewing the bite the rest of the way and swallowing. She grinned.

"It didn't jump!" Aria said, proudly. "Humane is good."

The girl tilted her head at Iva's inquiry, finally sitting down so she could think. That was a rather difficult question for someone not yet a week old - especially when she couldn't say she wasn't yet a week old. Aria was only just starting to realize that other people didn't have keepers; that she seemed to be the only one.

"Arsen was my first friend," she said slowly, "so I always ask him everything. Even if he's mad at me, he usually answers. I just wish I didn't make him made at me so much." Aria gave a sad sigh, frowning.

Karma rolled her eyes. "Arsen gets mad at everyone, almost." She said dismissively. "If you ever want him to shut up, just walk away or ignore him. If he ever scares you, you could come find me. We'll hang out in the girls dorm until he cools down." She shrugged. "Arsen can be a little scary sometimes, I suppose, but I don't care. He can't get into the Girl's Dormitory, so we'd be safe there. If it's prolonged, we could always stay there and have my House Elf bring us food."

Karma shrugged, as if it were no big deal. "The same goes for you, Iva, if you ever need to run from something. It's good for us girls to stick together, especially in a time of war like this. Who needs boys, you know?"

'I would, Karma, but I do not trust you!" Iva shrugged, laughing a bit as if this was her own joke. She frowned again, crossing her arms. Her mood of the day was just dropping rapidly. "I doubt you want to hear me problems anyway,"

"Do not tell her to hide away. Aria, you should fight back. Speak harshly, maybe even hit him," She smiled slightly, remembering last year. "I almost fought a Hufflepuff boy last year, yes? And he never messed with me again."

Though, Iva sort of wished they would talk again. Seeing him in the Great Hall and around school, Iva had become very... aware of him very quickly.

"I sure showed him,"

Karma shook her head frantically. "No, I'm all for fighting, you know that. But Arsen... he's not the safest person to fight. I know my limits. Arsen is dangerous."

Karma met Iva's eyes head on. "And Ian is no fight compared to him. He's a demon. There's absolutely nothing our age on this side of Britian that's got a chance with him except maybe me, and I'm not even sure I could win anymore." She rubbed the star-shaped scar on her shoulder through her clothes that she'd gotten over the shoulder. "I'm no fan of fire, and I've almost gotten burned by his through Crossfire in DADA."

Iva blinked, aurprised at the girl's fear. She broke eye contact, turning towards the window. "He did not seem too bad to me," She whispered, "Almost nice,"

She thought to his cocky attitude and demeanor, then snorted. Arsen was a bit amusing to her. "Almost nice, but he had an attitude. I do not think he would hurt me, but I will not tempt him anyway,"

Looking at her mug, she sighed. "I wish I had more tea,"

Karma rolled her eyes. "And it's not that I'm scared of him. I'm just aware of his powers." Karma held another chocolate frog out to Aria, noticing Iva didn't want to eat any. "And just so you know, Aria, I am not afraid of Arsen, or anyone, really. I know my limits, is all. And I can show you the ways of Hogwarts, if you like. I don't want you wandering around and not knowing anything. He could take advantage of you, and I'm sick of men who think they can do that."

Iva rolled her eyes at the girl, going back to the history book. She flipped the pages, underlining some words she didn't understand and starring others. Tapping the quill against the desk, she blinked the the light of the candle, which had grown too bright for her tired eyes.

"You are just sick of men overall, Karma," Iva put a hand over her mouth, pretending to be surprised at herself, "Did I say that out loud?"

Aria listened as the other two spoke, head swiveling back and forth and back. But they weren't just communicating with their speech, were they? Their tones and inflections told almost and much, and they way they held themselves, their body language.

Aria was fascinated. She knew before Karma clarified that she was not afraid of Arsen; simply by paying attention. She wasn't afraid of Arsen, either, though she did find him scary, sometimes. Accepting the new Chocolate Frog, Aria smiled, nodding enthusiastically.

"I would like that," she said. "The castle is so, so, so big!" Again, her arms spread out to indicate its size.

The blonde cocked her head to one side. "Take... advantage?" she asked. "Who?"

Her curious gaze turned back to Iva. Again, the other's tone and actions told a slightly different story than her words. Aria didn't quite get it, of course, but her curiosity was piqued, nonetheless.

Iva sighed, shaking her head at the girl. "You are so confused, yes?" She didn't wait for an answer, "He could treat less than a person because you are a girl. That is what she means,"

Iva twirled her pale wand in between her fingers, murmuring a disinfectant spell. Her book and mug wobbled and glowedbefore settling down again. Good. All clean.

"Oh," Aria said quietly, though that didn't make much sense to her, either. Did one's gender really mean so much?

She watched Iva cast the spell on the book and mug, her attention - the span of which was usually quite short - catching each detail, from the wand movement to the murmured incantation and the visible effect on the items.

"That," she wanted to know, "what does that do?"

"It cleans." Karma said with a smirk, ignoring all of Iva's shananagins and rolling her eyes at the girl. "Come on Blondie, do try and keep up, we'll review at the end of the lesson." Karma grinned a grin that wasn't really that nice. It was almost scary, but Karma kept her fangs in check this time, so it wasn't that threatening. "I love being a teacher."

Karma sighed wistfully and then smiled a nicer smile. "I can get others to help teach you, Ian would help, I'm sure, as would the Sisterhood. We're all fighting on the same side here... the winning one. So it would be fine." she said, skimming over Aria's question quite skillfully. "And every time you get an answer right, you can have some chocolate."

Aria looked from the disinfected items to Karma, then to Iva, and back again.

"I want to try," she declared. Rising from her seat, she moved to the nearest shelf to grab a book. Returning, she set it on the tabletop before taking her own wand from her pocket. Copying what Iva had done but a moment before (to the extent that she mimicked the other girl's voice as she had murmured the spell perfectly), she cast the spell on the book, clapping in delight when it, too, wobbled and glowed momentarily.

"That means it worked, doesn't it?" Aria asked, then frowned as she examined the book. "It still looks the same, really - how do you know if it's clean? I must have done it wrong. Or maybe the book needs to be dirtier, first, for the spell to work?" She glanced speculatively at Iva's book and mug, but made no move to inspect them, as well.

"Who's Ian?" she wanted to know next. "And what's a sisterhood? I don't think I'm allowed to do any fighting. Arsen says I'm to stay out of trouble."

Karma decided it would be best to tackle each of Aria's questions one at a time. "Yes, that means it worked, but it wasn't that dirty to begin with, its getting off the dirt that you can't see."

She paused. "Ian... is a second year Hufflepuff. His real name is Damian. Only I call him Ian." The rest was unspoken but communicated through a glare; So don't you dare call him that.

"A sisterhood is a group of girls who are like sisters... they help each other and are there for each other whenever one of them is in need." She smirked. "The Sisterhood was made for each of us to stay out of trouble. There's no fighting involved. So Arsen shouldn't be too worried about it... other than the fact that he can't join. Sisterhoods are Girls Only."

She deliberated for a second before continuing. "And it's not that boys are better than girls or girls are better than guys, its just that girls should go to girls for advice, because girls have been through the same things that some guys haven't. Just like boys go to boys. It just the natural order of things. So if you have a question you feel... uncomfortable... asking Arsen, I'll be here." She paused. "That is, when you learn enough to become uncomfortable."

"Oooh..." Aria nodded. That made sense, she supposed.

Another, mildly alarmed nod was added to Karma's next explanation. Damian the Hufflepuff was in no way to be referred to as Ian by herself.

Aria retook her seat. A sisterhood sounded nice and fun and if they were made to stay out of trouble, Arsen couldn't protest.

She rested her chin between both hands, a pucker forming along her brow. "There are things I shouldn't ask him?" she queried. She'd been asking him pretty much everything that popped into her head. "Because he is a boy? There are things girls do that boys don't?"

Karma raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. For one thing, girls don't have..." She paused. Oh Merlin... "You know, maybe you should ask Arsen about that. I'd love to hear his explanation for that one." She smiled half cruelly, half uncomfortably. "There are just some things that we're born knowing, and some things we learn about along the way. This is one of them." She shrugged. "So, the next time you see Arsen, you ask him what the difference between boys and girls are, and maybe he'll explain it."

Aria's mismatched eyes fairly glittered with her curiosity. "Okay!" she easily agreed. There were some differences that Aria had noticed on her own, of course, but the thought that there were other things - things less obvious, but possible more vital - intrigued her no end. Not asking would have been an impossibility for her. Aria just had to know.

Having filed that away, she cast a longing gaze at the shelves.

"Which book would be best to read first?" Aria asked. "I don't know many words, yet, but I want to know everything!" Her gesture was meant to include the entire library. "I want to learn all of it."

Karma frowned in thought. "I'd start with a Dictionary, or an Encyclopedia. They're the ones with all the information in it, though I doubt they'll be easy to understand." Karma stood and went to the shelves, pulling a thick book off one and placing it on the table. She slid it toward Aria with no further ado.

"here it is, Encyclopedia Wizactica." Karma said with a wave. "The entire sum and product of every important wizard that has ever lived. Read this, and you'll know more about Wizard-kind then anyone I know. Even me." Karma smiled. "Sound like a plan, Aria?"

Iva snorted as the encyclopedia was pulled out. Honestly, it was a boring read and a bit challenging, but Iva stayed quiet as she finally unwrapped the chocolate frog. Carefully, she popped it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

"You might want a dictionary too, Aria," She said, "And a story book to keep you interested."

Karma looked over at Iva. "I know it's not the most interesting thing in the world, but I wouldn't want to start her off with, like, Beedle the Bard, because then we'd have to explain to her the differance between stories and reality." Karma frowned. "Alright, though it is something she needs to know, It's also extremely hard to explain. Seriously, Iva, do you have a better idea?"

She listened to Iva's input. "Oh! I know, here!" She slid the script for Chicago across the table at Aria. "It's one of the best Muggle plays ever. Sure, We're better than Muggles but they aren't all bad." yet... She added mentally. "It'd be good for you to read some things from Muggles too, that way you can learn even more."

Iva nodded in agreement. Except for the muggle thing, of course. When Karma mentioned them, she sneered with distaste, flipping through her history book. In her eyes, the hard sparkle slipped into a soft glaze. She kept looking down as if to avoid Karma's gaze.

"Not so bad?" She said, "I disagree,"