Arson of the Heart

By Sasha L. Miller

Published by Less Than Three Press

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

Edited by Samantha Derr

Cover art provided by Megan Derr

This book is a work of fiction and as such all characters and situations are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.

Electronic edition April 2010

Copyright © 2010 by Sasha L. Miller

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-936202-21-8

Arson of the Heart

Sasha L. Miller

Toma hurried through the night, dragging his thick cloak tightly around him as he ducked through the shadows cast by the widely spaced lanterns. He could extinguish them easily, but that would draw too much attention and he was doing his best to be sneaky.

Not that he thought he was succeeding. Epsen was too smart; no doubt he knew exactly where Toma was and would catch him at the last possible second, to prolong the agony.

Stifling a hearty sigh, Toma ducked into a dark, smelly alleyway, ignoring thoughts of what might be causing the rank smell. Leaning against the wall, he forced himself to calm down and catch his breath.

A soft scuff of boot was his only warning, and then heavy hands settled on Toma's shoulders, dragging him away from the wall. Toma yelped, startled at the sudden movement, and barely resisted the impulse to catch the man's clothes on fire.

It was a good thing he had resisted, because this was not Epsen, who could withstand such an assault.

"Let go—"

"Hush, now," the man hissed at him, his voice deep and amused. Toma tried to jerk away, but the man's grip was too strong.

"Let go," Toma repeated, nailing his assailant with a well-placed kick to the shin. Twisting away, he ran right back into the wall, but he didn't pause, pushing off the brick and ducking towards the opening of the alley. There was a reason you weren't supposed to go down dark, smelly alleys.

He barely got two steps before he was grabbed again, from behind. The man was much stronger than he was, and Toma didn't even get a chance to yelp again before a broad hand was clamped over his mouth.

A hand that smelled sweet, clean and flowery…like the standard-issue soap dispensed at the college baths. Toma stopped struggling, confused; if this was one of Epsen's cohorts, why was he not calling out that he'd caught Toma?

"Gonna stay quiet now?" The man asked, his grip relaxing a little. He had one arm wrapped tightly around Toma's waist, pinning Toma against his broad body. The other arm was draped heavily over Toma's shoulder, hand clamped over Toma's mouth to keep him quiet.

"Who?" Toma asked as the hand fell away. The man didn't release him though, holding him rather intimately close.

"A friend," the man said, chuckling softly. "Don't run off now, we've still got to get you those last five blocks to the rendezvous point."

"How do you know that?" Toma asked suspiciously, wondering if this was another trick of Epsen's.

"Heard that brat talking about it." The man shrugged, loosening his grip on Toma's waist. "Come on, let's get you there and have done with this nonsense."

Toma made a protesting noise, struggling out of the lax grip. "It's a requirement—"

"Oh, it is not," the man dismissed, and Toma gasped as a sudden, sharp chill fell over him. The air around them darkened, and Toma's eyes widened in shock.

"A shadow mage?" Toma asked weakly—there were only three of them at the college, so that narrowed down the who rather drastically. Especially as the other two shadow mages were female students. Which meant he was currently in the company of none other than Professor Lajos Misyk.

"I can keep them from seeing us, but not from hearing you," Lajos said with good humor, and Toma flushed deeply, shutting his mouth with a click. "Come on then."

Toma nodded, ducking his head and letting Lajos lead him from the alleyway. Lajos reached out and grabbed his wrist in a loose grip—more guiding than restraining—and pulled him into the dimly lit street.

It was odd, looking out from the sphere of darkness. Everything was muted, dimmer, and in the night air, harder to see. Toma stumbled over the uneven pavement more than once as they made their way towards the designated rendezvous point. Lajos seemed to have no trouble, just steadied Toma wordlessly whenever he tripped.

A few minutes of walking and they were there. The straw dummy was set up in the center of the clearing—but also in the middle of a giant water fountain. Toma's heart sank a little—it was obviously soaked through, which meant it would take no ordinary firespell to set it alight.

Epsen was waiting. He hadn't seen them yet, lounging unconcernedly at the fountain's edge. He looked bored and a little smug—as well he might be. The dummy Toma was supposed to burn to ash was sopping wet, and in no way fit to be fired.

It was cheap and it was cheating and Toma was utterly sick to death of such tricks. Epsen and his cohorts were complete and utter bastards, never playing fair and always, always deriding him and thinking less of him because he was from out-country. Scowling, Toma narrowed his eyes and tugged at his wrist where it was still caught in Lajos's grip.

Lajos didn't let go, and the courtyard was sufficiently bright for Toma to see the frown on his face.

"Let go," Toma hissed angrily under his breath. What was it with these Marjans and their need to push everyone around?

"Rigged," Lajos muttered, trying to draw him away. Toma dug in his heels, turning back towards the center of the clearing. Calling up the strongest, hottest fire he could, he flung the flickering, sky-blue flames at the dummy.

It caught fire and incinerated immediately, a cloud of steam hissing to life as the dummy fell to ash. Epsen didn't even get a chance to turn and look before it was completely destroyed. The shadow spell slipped away from him as Lajos let go of his wrist—leaving Lajos still cloaked—and Toma took advantage of it to turn away from the clearing, fury making his blood run hot and fast.

Epsen was spluttering behind him, but Toma paid him no mind. He'd met the challenge, he'd played Epsen's little game, and now he was done. Stalking back towards the college, Toma focused on not catching anything on fire accidentally and not at all on Epsen's games or the baffling behavior of one of the senior professors.

*~*~*

Letting himself into his room, Toma hissed, frustrated and angry and a little embarrassed. A professor had witnessed that spectacle and how very naïve he was. It didn't take a genius to realize that Epsen didn't like him, but Toma had foolishly thought that by playing his games he could win the other mage over.

Taking off his cloak with quick, hurried movements, Toma stared around the tiny dormitory room. It didn't hold much, but then, it couldn't fit much. For furniture, there was a narrow bed with a decent mattress shoved into one corner, a desk, and a mostly uncomfortable chair. He had a small closet, only slightly wider than he was himself, with two drawers set into the bottom.

It wasn't much, but it didn't have to be. Toma hadn't brought a lot with him when he'd come here to learn last year. He was, however, accumulating quite a collection of books. The older books were arrayed beneath his bed, lined up in a neat row. He kept the newer ones stacked up around the room by subject.

Toma didn't know how he was going to get them all home, but he didn't have to worry about that for another six weeks. And then only if he passed the examinations.

Scowling, too wound up to sleep, Toma fished out the crystal wand he used for spellcasting—proper fire spells, rather than just conjuring flames. He could do another practice run on the spell he would showcase for the exams. That would calm him down, or at least run him out of energy so he could sleep.

The exams consisted of two parts—a written exam and a practical exam. The written exam took five hours and covered everything from magical laws to magical theory to advanced spellcasting techniques. The practical exam was a demonstration of the skills learned during the four-year curriculum at the college, usually through difficult or sustained spellcasting.

Taking a deep breath, Toma raised his wand and started the slow chant that began the spell. Silly, the chanting, but it was highly frowned upon here to cast without actually saying the spell. Never mind that it was only a tool to focus energy and only the weak minded allowed themselves to be distracted in the middle of a spell.

A flare of yellow flame burst into existence in the center of the room, growing brighter and twisting itself into a lovely, crackling rosebud. Toma concentrated, speaking slowly to create a handful of yellow roses, then he created a handful of red roses and a handful of orange buds.

Concentrating fiercely, Toma chanted out the turn of phrase to create stems and leaves, unsurprised when they turned out blue instead of green. Gritting his teeth, Toma fed more energy into the stems, making the flames flicker blue-green before turning a bright, vivid green.

Smiling victoriously, Toma watched the bouquet burn for a moment before letting it flicker out of life. That was an improvement, but he really needed to make the green appear right away instead of forcing the flame there. Hopefully the practice he did in the next six weeks would get him there.

Sagging as the flames died out, Toma decided he could sleep now. Creating green flames was no laughing matter—he just wished he could see Epsen's face when he did in front of the examination board. That would keep the bastard from bothering him, except that by then it wouldn't matter because the exams would be over.

But he didn't really want anyone to know he could create green flames yet. It was bad enough that he could and did call up blue flames on a regular basis. Fire starters were common enough, but most of them could only call up the weakest flames—yellow and orange. More could create red, but blue wasn't common at all, and Toma had only met one other mage who could create green.

Leaning on the desk chair, Toma tugged off his boots and surveyed the stacks of books awaiting his attention on the desk. Against his common sense, he picked up the topmost one and brought it to bed with him. Conjuring a small, bright flame to cast light on the pages, Toma curled up in bed and read until he fell asleep.

*~*~*

Lajos let himself into the lecture hall using the door in the back of the room. Professor Jacia didn't do more than raise an eyebrow at him, continuing to speak on the law code that defined the punishments for using magic in a malicious way.

It didn't take Lajos long to spot the student he was looking for, his pen flying over his notebook as he took diligent notes. There were two thick books stacked beside him on the desk, and four more sitting on the floor by his chair. A bulging knapsack sat on the other side of his desk, and Lajos stifled a laugh.

Surely carrying that many books should give Toma more upper arm strength than he displayed last night when he tried to break free of Lajos's grasp.

The lecture was almost over, so Lajos just leaned against the back wall of the classroom and stayed quiet, to the discomfiture of the students nearest him. He noted they were first year students he had in one of his classes later this afternoon. Lajos just grinned at them whenever they snuck looks back at him.

The whole situation was curious. Toma was a transfer student from the university in the heart of Kajal, in the last year of his studies before being granted the accolades necessary for him to practice magic. Lajos couldn't come up with a good reason for Toma to transfer when he was nine months and two semesters from graduating.

Add to that the tangle he'd gotten into with that upstart Epsen, plus the fact that he was taking a double load of courses—a handful of first year courses and a handful of post-graduate courses plus the normal coursework for a final year student—and Lajos was curious.

He'd heard the other professors talking about Toma, but it hadn't been until last week that he'd been pointed out to Lajos as he lugged an equally daunting load of books around. Lajos had been curious, especially since it seemed most every professor had encountered Toma at some point, and Lajos had had to ask to figure out who he was.

Jacia dismissed the class, approaching Toma's desk—and really, he didn't understand why the rest of the staff was so amused by his curiosity about Toma. She kept him occupied while the rest of the class filed out. One anxious boy waited by the desk for a long moment, likely with a question for Jacia, but she didn't notice and the boy slipped out of the classroom after a quick, worried look at Lajos.

Shaking his head ruefully, Lajos weaved his way through the desks to where Toma was scrawling something across the bottom of his notebook in quick, slanted script that was surprisingly neat for how quick he was writing.

"Thank you, professor," Toma murmured, beginning to pack up his things as Jacia nodded cheerfully, winking briefly at Lajos as she returned to the podium to collect her notes.

"Good afternoon," Lajos greeted Toma, leaning casually against the next desk over and making it squeak in protest. Toma dropped the book he'd picked up, his head snapping up as his cheeks flushed—in anger or embarrassment, Lajos wasn't sure.

"Are you busy?" Lajos continued, not giving Toma a chance to do more than frown at him.

"I have another class," Toma said stiffly, as though Lajos had tried to help Epsen instead of him with the games of intrigue they'd played last night. Toma stood, scooping up his bulging knapsack without hesitation, despite how much it had to weigh. Lajos moved quickly, scooping up the loose books from Toma's desk.

"I'll escort you," Lajos said, amused at Toma's very evident frustration. He didn't want to talk to Lajos, for whatever reason.

"It's not far," Toma said, but he shrugged the knapsack higher and moved around his desk with a gracefulness that Lajos hadn't seen last night. It had been rather dark, after all.

Toma was just barely shorter than he was, but a good deal more lean. Lajos had nearly twice the width Toma did, but the lean, scrawny look fit Toma well. He had long legs and a trim waist, and Lajos really needed to stop ogling him, because he was a student. Never mind that he wasn't Lajos's student or that he had the fatal (for Lajos) combination of sunny blonde hair, pretty green eyes, and hints of a Kajal accent.

"What do you want?" Toma asked, not quite rude as he opened the classroom door and stepped into the hallway. There were still students hanging around, since the next round of classes wouldn't start for half an hour. That included, Lajos noted, Epsen and a handful of his friends.

"To talk to you," Lajos answered mildly, raising his eyebrow at the boys when they just stood there staring. "It's not often I run into anyone else from Kajal."

Toma looked startled, the frown slipping from his face as he turned to look at Lajos properly. "You're from Kajal?"

"Mm-hmm," Lajos hummed, smiling. "From the Radile sector."

"You don't have an accent," Toma accused half-heartedly. "But why are you here if you're from Kajal? They only have one shadow mage professor at the university there."

"Ah, but they didn't have any here," Lajos said, letting his sector accent creep into the words. "Also, I'm doing research on the different methods of spellcasting."

"Please don't talk like that," Toma said, making a face. Lajos laughed, because of course Toma wouldn't like his sector accent. Toma's accent placed him firmly within the upper class Telior sector.

"If you insist," Lajos said, grinning and resisting the urge to tease Toma about it.

"I do," Toma said, wrinkling his nose adorably. "Why did you have to come here for research?" Toma paused, making a face. "I mean, why couldn't you do your research from Kajal's university?"

"First-hand experience is important," Lajos replied, shrugging. "And surely you've noticed how differently they teach people to spellcast here."

"I hate saying everything," Toma muttered, his steps slowing as they approached another lecture hall. "Are there other differences?"

"Lots," Lajos confirmed, smiling because he could talk for hours about it, and Toma seemed interested. "Is this you?"

"Yes," Toma admitted, frowning a little. "Thank you for the escort."

"My pleasure," Lajos said, winking as he handed Toma the thick books he'd been carrying. "If you're interested in learning more, or just talking to another Kajal—even if I'm from Radile—stop by my office."

"I…I will," Toma said, finally smiling a little. "I'm curious."

"It's interesting, I promise," Lajos enticed. "Third floor of the faculty building, it's on the right, the fifth room from the center stairway."

"I have a lot of classes—" Toma began, but Lajos cut him off.

"I'm usually there long after classes end for the day. I have to do grading and that sort of thing, too," Lajos said ruefully. He'd love to devote more time to his research, but he couldn't shirk the responsibilities that let him perform that research.

Toma smiled again, glancing down at the books he held a little wistfully. Probably wishing something similar, and Lajos grinned, putting a bit of space between them before he did something stupid.

"So I'll see you later, then," Lajos said, pleased when Toma nodded distractedly.

"See you," Toma echoed before turning away, entering the classroom. Lajos smiled victoriously and headed back to his office to grade quizzes and wait.

*~*~*

Toma wavered hesitantly at the threshold of Lajos's office, waiting for the professor to look up and see him. He should really not be here—it was late, and he'd meant to go straight back to his own room and study.

But if Lajos really was studying the differences between spellcasting here and spellcasting in Kajal, he'd be the best person to tell whether Toma was doing something out of the ordinary for Marjan spellcasting.

Tapping his knuckles lightly against the doorframe, Toma smiled hesitantly when Lajos's head shot up from the papers he was working on.

"Hey," Lajos greeted distractedly, glancing around in confusion for a minute. "Oh, when did it get so late?"

"I can go—" Toma began, frowning a little. Lajos shook his head, setting down his pen and standing.

"No, come in, I was expecting you even if I got caught up in my work," Lajos said, smiling widely. He had a nice smile, Toma noted, and tried not to blush at the thought. What was he, a smitten schoolboy? He didn't have time for a crush, let alone a crush on a professor—off-limits, even if Lajos wasn't technically his professor for anything.

"I like your office," Toma said, setting down his bag before it wore a groove into his shoulder. Lajos's office was wide and spacious, brightly lit by a handful of decorative lanterns. He had a giant window, which would be a pain in the winter but provided lovely views during the spring, summer, and fall.

"It's too big," Lajos complained cheerfully. "I never use that second desk; I don't even know why it's there."

"In case you have a student who needs to make up a quiz?" Toma suggested, taking the seat Lajos gestured to. "I've done that with a few of my professors."

"You miss quizzes? Tsk," Lajos chided playfully, and Toma flushed. He hadn't actually meant to, only sometimes one or two of his classes overlapped and he missed the first few minutes.

"Are you hungry? I'm hungry," Lajos asked, and Toma thought he was probably always hungry. The man was huge; it had to take a lot of food to maintain that.

"Sure," Toma accepted after a second. He hadn't eaten since lunch, some five classes and three hours in the library earlier.

"Excellent," Lajos declared, ducking around his desk and only barely not clipping the tall stack of papers and books resting dangerously near the edge. "I'll go track someone down to bring us something."

Toma nodded his agreement, swallowing a bout of nervousness. It wasn't strange, dining with a professor. Not strange at all.

Lajos didn't reappear quickly, so Toma dug out the book he'd gotten caught up in at the library. It was a thick volume on how to extinguish fires, with a focus on fires too large to take out all at once.

He got caught up in the book, so much so that Lajos's return startled him. Lajos just snickered, setting down the laden tray he carried on the spare desk with a clatter.

"It's not much. I raided the professor's lounge," Lajos said, pouring a glass of wine for Toma before pouring one for himself. "Help yourself."

"Thanks," Toma said, setting aside his book. Taking a sip of the wine, he shifted chairs so that he was sitting in front of the empty desk instead of in front of Lajos's desk. Lajos just leaned against the desk, disconcertingly tall and still too handsome for Toma's peace of mind.

"Can you tell me more about your research?" Toma asked, tearing free a chunk of the bread Lajos had brought and slicing some cheese to go with it.

"Of course," Lajos agreed with an indulgent smile, sipping at his wine. "If you tell me why you're studying here instead of at the university in Kajal."

Toma winced, because it wasn't the first time he'd been asked and he really should've expected that. He could lie—or go without learning about Lajos's research—but it really shouldn't be that big a deal.

"All right," Toma accepted, making a face at his wine. "But you have to go first."

"Sure," Lajos said, dishing himself a bowl of the strange-looking salad dish that was sitting on the tray. Toma eyed it warily, but didn't move as Lajos sat back in his chair with the air of a storyteller gearing up for an epic.

"The research I'm doing isn't too complicated," Lajos began, and Toma scoffed lightly in disbelief. "I'm really just comparing the ways Marjan magic has diverged from Kajal magic. They're based on the same system—if you've ever been overseas you know that the Kylarians don't even have the elemental break-ups we do."

"That's because their magic comes from a different source," Toma said slowly, thinking over Lajos's words. He'd said diverged, like casting had been done all the same way at one point. "When did it diverge, then? When the empire split into smaller countries?"

"Not sure, actually," Lajos said with a loose, languid shrug. He paused to shovel a mouthful of food into his mouth—really, being a professor should have taught him some manners—and he took a healthy swallow of wine before continuing. "There's evidence that some sectors of the country did things slightly differently even before then. Everything was exacerbated when Kajal and Marjan isolated themselves from each other, of course."

"Right," Toma accepted thoughtfully, taking a small sip of his wine. "So what was the prevalent means of spellcasting?" He asked, waving his hand to indicate the passage of time. "Way back then, before the split?"

"With words," Lajos said with a grin, and Toma rolled his eyes. "Worse than what the Marjans do now, actually. They had a whole formal spellcasting language that was much more complicated than the pidgin mix they use now."

"Ulgh, and I thought this crap was bad," Toma muttered, eyeing his knapsack with disdain. There were two more books—half-read, he kept meaning to get back to them and finish them—detailing all the spellcasting terms that Marjans learned in their first year of study.

Lajos snickered, setting down his half-eaten bowl of salad and climbing to his feet. "Here, I'll show you."

Toma nodded agreeably, cutting himself another chunk of bread and nibbling at it. Lajos was poking around in the stacks of books that were crammed haphazardly into the bookshelf behind his desk. He made a triumphant noise after a few minutes of shuffling and produced a thick book with a worn cover. The binding was held together by a few pieces of thick twine.

"Your organization makes me cringe," Toma told Lajos solemnly as Lajos cracked the book open and held it out to him.

Lajos laughed, flipping a few pages to reveal slightly yellowed pages filled with neat script. "I know where everything is, mostly."

"Right," Toma muttered, distracted by the book. It was written in archaic language, old outdated terms and modes of speech, and he kind of wanted to steal the book and squirrel away with it for a few days.

Except he didn't really have time for that, did he?

"That's really neat," Toma said, sitting back reluctantly. "I'd probably quit if I had to learn that, though."

Lajos snickered, carefully folding the book back together. "I'd lend it to you, but I'm afraid if I give you another book your back would break."

Toma scoffed, but didn't object. The worst he'd done was fall over when he hadn't balanced his bag properly.

"So what are the differences now?" Toma asked, getting the conversation back on track. "The big one is the speaking to spellcast."

"Right," Lajos said, smiling at him like he'd said something special. "The other differences are small, nothing you'd have to worry about for practical exams."

Toma flushed, annoyed that he'd been that transparent.

"Some of them are elemental, too," Lajos said thoughtfully, and he was still watching Toma with that funny smile on his face. "You wouldn't have to worry about the air dance, or the weird water superstitions."

"I've seen some of that," Toma said, stifling a snicker as his flush died out. "Anything fire-based?"

"Not that affects spellcasting. They don't think very highly of practicing where it isn't safe," Lajos said, frowning. "Which means indoors. They like to have a second fire mage around as well, to keep things contained if necessary."

Toma swallowed a protest and just nodded. He wasn't going to stop practicing in his dormitory room; he didn't want to give away that he was working on an advanced fire-sculpting technique, not before the exams.

"It also seems like there's much more posturing between the fire students here than there was in Kajal," Lajos said, raising his eyebrows at Toma knowingly. Toma bit back the protest that they'd started it. "But there are no silly requirements to make you duck around alleyways in the dead of night."

"Right," Toma muttered, shaking his head. "I knew that, but…"

"Mmhmm," Lajos murmured, a slow grin slipping across his face. "So, your turn. Spill."

"Ulgh," Toma groaned, his cheeks turning pink. "You're going to think it's stupid, too."

"Well, I can promise I won't think it's stupid until you tell me," Lajos said cheekily.

Toma rolled his eyes."How generous of you," Toma muttered, sighing. "Fine. I have a twin brother. Identical."

"Fire mage, too?" Lajos asked curiously.

"Identical," Toma stressed, frowning at Lajos.

"I've known identical twins who controlled different elements," Lajos said mildly, unperturbed. The man was seriously a rock, Toma decided. An easily amused rock.

"Then they weren't identical, even if they looked it," Toma declared stubbornly. "Magic is hereditary, and that new paper by Kilegen says it's based on genetics –"

"And where did you get a hold of Kilegen's latest paper?" Lajos asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "The library doesn't have it yet."

"Huh," Toma said, surprised. "I didn't realize that. Jesni—my brother—sends me things to read all the time."

"So you're not estranged," Lajos observed. "He's studying at the Kajal university?"

"No," Toma denied, frowning. "The whole mess is our father's fault. My mother died giving birth to us—we were my father's first children—but apparently my mother's death was traumatic enough that the midwife couldn't remember which of us she'd birthed first."

Lajos snickered, looking highly amused. "So there's some land, a title involved here?"

"Yes," Toma answered, shrugging. "I don't want it and neither does Jesni, but it was my mother's, not my father's, so it has to go to one of us. My father decided that we would have to choose, and when we told him we wouldn't, he said whichever of us graduated with higher marks from the Kajal university would get it."

"So to spite him, you came all the way out here?" Lajos asked, obviously torn between laughing his fool head off and utter confusion.

"Well, that and other things," Toma admitted, flushing. "I ran out of classes there, but they require a number of years of schooling before they give you the exams."

Lajos did laugh at that, shaking his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if you go through most of the classes here, while you're at it."

Toma shrugged, not willing to say that he'd already managed a dozen extra courses in the nine months since he'd transferred; never mind that most of them were courses the younger students took to learn basic spellcasting techniques and terms.

"So, your father's not going to pick your brother by default?" Lajos asked curiously, picking up his bowl of salad again. "Since he's still at the Kajal university and you're not?"

"No, Jesni went north," Toma corrected, fighting a smile because Jesni was apparently thinking of settling there. "He's getting his accolades from the university in Valon."

Lajos snorted, apparently still amused by the whole thing. "I don't know what all the fuss is about, but that's all right. What are you planning to do once you get your accolades?"

"I'm not really sure," Toma said, flushing because he should know by now, six weeks from taking the exams that would earn him the accolades he needed to work magic professionally.

"You could go into research," Lajos suggested, gesturing with his fork to Toma's bulging knapsack. "You've got the intellect for it."

"I don't think I'd be very good at it," Toma disagreed, shrugging. "I like…knowing everything. I don't think I could focus on just one piece of magic."

"Since you can conjure blue flames, I should counsel you to go into the army, but I don't really think that's your sort of thing either," Lajos said thoughtfully. Toma made a face; like they'd really accept him into the army if they figured out who he was.

Not that he particularly wanted to use his flames offensively. He'd read some of the horrors mages had been forced to perpetrate during the last great wars; he hadn't slept right for two months after the one book.

"You could always work as a research assistant until you figure out what you want to focus on," Lajos tried and Toma shrugged, flushing a little. He wouldn't mind being Lajos's "assistant."

"But I'm sure you've already thought of that," Lajos said, grinning widely as he sat up abruptly. He set his now empty bowl down on top of the papers he'd been working on and reached for his goblet of wine.

Toma guiltily wondered if he was keeping Lajos from his work. Lajos didn't seem to be in any hurry to return to it at least. He seemed far more interested in Toma at the moment, which was a little disconcerting.

"So why does Epsen dislike you so much?" Lajos asked, not even bothering to hide how amused he was about the whole thing. Toma flushed, scowling a little. He hadn't done anything wrong though, even if it would've been better to ignore Epsen and his taunts.

"I don't know?" Toma tried, flushing hotter as Lajos raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"You don't know?" Lajos repeated, his tone as skeptical as his expression. "I have heard rumors…" Lajos baited, trailing off with a smirk. Toma rolled his eyes wondering how old Lajos was that he'd be so…immature. Except he wasn't Toma's professor, so perhaps he didn't really need to be mature.

It was a good question though, and Toma peered at Lajos curiously. He didn't look too old; obviously he was older than twenty-four, since he'd already earned his accolades. It was unusual for any researcher to be made a professor so young, but Lajos was a shadow mage; special allowances were made for them since they were so rare.

"I promise whatever the actual cause, it won't be as funny as some of the rumors," Lajos interrupted his thoughts, startling him into blushing again. Really, he did that far too much around Lajos.

"It's stupid and simple," Toma muttered, annoyed all over again. "I'm not entirely sure, of course, but before I transferred I think Epsen was set to graduate at the top of the class."

"Huh," Lajos looked thoughtful. "So you're top now?"

Toma nodded, frowning. He wouldn't mind if he wasn't, but he wasn't going to do poorly in his classes to appease Epsen.

"That's a lot less fun than some of the rumors," Lajos complained, stretching his arms up. With a deliberate turn of his head, he cracked his neck, making Toma wince. Hopefully Lajos didn't crack his knuckles, otherwise Toma would have to…well, there wasn't anything he could do, really.

"I don't want to know what the rumors are saying," Toma grumbled, taking a small sip of wine to distract himself as Lajos stood and surveyed the laden tray of food with a frown.

"Do you subsist on books?" Lajos demanded, eyeing him speculatively as he cut himself hearty chunks of bread and cheese. "Eat some more, before you vanish from my office entirely."

Toma rolled his eyes, helping himself to one of the loose apples on the tray. He didn't doubt that it took three times the amount of food he ate to sustain Lajos. Maybe more.

"I should go," Toma said reluctantly, thinking of the work he had to do tonight. "You have grading to do, and I have to study –"

Lajos snorted, swallowing his mouthful of food before speaking. "My grading can wait." He paused, looking annoyed. "Not much, but it can. If you need to study though, I can certainly let you go."

"I have assignments," Toma said, reluctant to move. Only because this was the first civilized conversation he'd had in weeks, of course. Even if Lajos had spent most of it teasing him.

"You can work in here, if you want," Lajos offered, gesturing to the desk Toma sat at. "I'd be glad of the company for my grading, even if it's silent company."

Toma hesitated—how much work would he get done in Lajos's company? The idea appealed though—more than returning to his tiny dormitory room or going to the overcrowded library where Epsen was sure to be.

"It's not like I'm using that desk for anything," Lajos pointed out. "And it's a hell of a lot quieter than the library, this close to exams."

"All right," Toma accepted. He could eat in here, as well; the library was prohibitive of everything, even drinks.

"Good," Lajos said, looking pleased with himself for whatever reason.

"Have at it then," Lajos said, returning to his seat and sitting down with a sigh. He pulled his food closer before reaching for the stack of paper he'd been puzzling over when Toma had arrived.

Smothering a smile, Toma reached for his knapsack and pulled out the books he'd need for his classes, a notebook, and a pen. Settling into his seat, he cracked open the topmost book and began reading.

*~*~*

Lajos straightened with a crack of his back, glancing at the spell clock shoved into the book case across the room. Giving a low whistle at how late it had gotten, he glanced over at Toma.

He was still studying diligently, his hand moving quickly across the notebook in front of him. He hadn't moved from the desk in the three or so hours it had taken Lajos to grade his essays. Honestly, god save him from required courses for entry-level students. They all had awful handwriting, worse grammar, and not a one of them sounded like they even knew what the essay was supposed to be about.

At least it hadn't taken him until the early hours of the morning to finish grading. Now he could stay up until the early hours of the morning reading the archaic book he'd wrangled out of the royal palace's library.

Lajos hesitated, wondering if he should distract Toma from his studies and send him off to bed. From what Lajos had learned, Toma had early classes every day of the week, and an early meeting with his advisor on Saturday mornings for some independent study project he'd undertaken.

He liked having Toma here though. Toma was quiet and only a little distracting because Lajos was still harboring the inappropriate urge to drag him off to the cushy quarters the university had given him when he'd signed on to teach.

The way Toma's cheeks flushed when he was teased wasn't helping; it just made Lajos want to incite a blush for certain other reasons, reasons that would get him fired if Toma was his student.

Since Toma wasn't his student, it was only morally grey. Dark grey.

Setting aside the marked-up pile of papers, Lajos pushed to his feet, crossing the room quietly and setting his hand on Toma's shoulder. Toma jumped, flushing delightfully as he blinked at Lajos.

"I'm hanging around a bit longer," Lajos said, nodding at the clock with a grin. "You might be wanting to head to bed though."

"Is that really the time?" Toma wondered, his eyes straying back to his notebook.

"Yep," Lajos confirmed. "You heading home or sticking around?"

"I'll stick around a bit longer, if you don't mind," Toma answered absently, his eyes on his book again.

"All right," Lajos accepted, almost snickering at Toma's obvious distraction. He wondered if he'd have to kick Toma out when he left—certainly it seemed like Toma was lost enough in his work to stay until he was disrupted by more than Lajos pointing out how late it was.

Turning, Lajos returned to his desk, snagging the last bit of bread from the food tray and eyeing the apple Toma had apparently forgotten he was eating. Little wonder Toma was so slender, if he kept getting distracted from eating by school work.

Digging out his book, Lajos leaned back in his chair and propped his booted feet up on his desk. Toma looked up at the thump, but didn't say anything, just rolled his eyes before returning to his work.

Snickering, Lajos cracked open the book, took a sip of his room temperature wine, and started reading.

It was really early when he finally put the book down. It was interesting, but ultimately it wouldn't be very useful to his research. The man who'd written it had focused too much on the political effects of magic on the separation of the empire and didn't give any specifics on how any of the magic was cast.

Toma had made himself right at home, Lajos was pleased and amused to observe. He had four books cracked open and spread across the surface of the desk, his notebook settled in the center of them. He was writing something, likely an essay, barely glancing at the books as his pen flew across the page.

Lajos didn't interrupt him, content to watch Toma's profile as he worked. There were only six weeks until the examinations for the students in their final year to earn their accolades. Little wonder Toma was working so hard, even if Lajos was sure he'd work that hard in any case.

That made Epsen's behavior a little more baffling though—what did he hope to gain with his games? Surely he'd realized that Toma wasn't about to be distracted by what he was doing.

Dismissing it, Lajos glanced again at the clock, wondering if Toma ever actually slept. Climbing to his feet, he made a production out of arranging his papers for his first class in the morning. In the late morning, thankfully.

Toma's pen slowed, and after a moment he set it down, frowning at his notepaper.

"What are you working on?"  Lajos asked curiously, giving the collection of papers and books on his desk a last look before moving to stand by Toma's desk.

"Essay for Professor Jacia's class," Toma replied absently, stretching his fingers ruefully before slowly beginning to pack up his books.

"Huh," Lajos said, a little amused because he thought he knew the essay Toma was talking about. "I don't recall any of her essays requiring more than two references."

"I like to be thorough," Toma said absently. Lajos couldn't help but snicker at that, wondering, despite the immaturity of the thought, what else Toma was thorough about. Toma just blinked at him, uncomprehending.

"You ready to go?" Lajos asked, changing the subject before Toma could inquire why he thought that was funny.

"Um, yes," Toma said, standing up and stretching. His back popped twice and Lajos grinned, scooping up a few of Toma's books before he could try and shove them into his still full knapsack.

"I'll walk you to your room," Lajos announced, not really willing to let a student—especially not a student he had an inappropriate crush on—walk across campus alone at this time of night. Morning. Even if said student could conjure pretty blue flames that could melt any metal in seconds.

"You don't have to do that," Toma said, frowning a little as he picked up his knapsack and swung it over his shoulders effortlessly. "I know the way perfectly well."

Lajos laughed, and maybe his eyes strayed a little as Toma led the way out of the room.

"I'm sure you do," Lajos agreed, pausing to lock the door before gesturing for Toma to precede him down the hallway. Purely because he was gallant and noble and not at all because he appreciated the view.

Toma sighed, pushing his hair out of his face as he walked down the hallway. He looked exhausted now, away from his books, and Lajos felt a little bad for not kicking him out earlier. Even if Toma probably would have just picked up studying elsewhere.

"So, why are you bothering?" Toma asked, nearly breaking his jaw on a yawn. Lajos grinned, trying to come up with an answer that wasn't creepy (I want to know where you sleep) or reminded Toma that he was a professor (I can't let students wander around this late alone).

"Because I want to," Lajos settled on, smirking when Toma rolled his eyes and let it drop.

"Do you know what you're doing for the practical part of the exam?" Lajos asked curiously as they left the building. No doubt Toma did and had already practiced it half to death already.

"Mmhmm," Toma said with a smile, but didn't elaborate.

"So?" Lajos prompted and Toma laughed, the sound carrying across the empty courtyard.

"I'm not telling," Toma said mischievously, giving him a bright smile that nearly incited Lajos into doing something forward. "You could be on my exam board," Toma continued, seemingly oblivious to the effect his smile was having on Lajos. "No one gets to see it before then."

"I won't be on your exam board," Lajos said confidently. The five professors on each board were selected by lottery, but they could be excused for personal connections. Something Lajos fully intended to have with Toma by that point. And he didn't want to have any doubt cast on Toma's exam scores after the fact, so he'd excuse himself either way.

"You don't know that," Toma said, yawning again. Lajos didn't correct him, feeling it would be presumptuous to let his intentions drop now, when he'd only been speaking with Toma for less than a day.

"You really don't have to walk with me," Toma said as they meandered between the library and the largest of the lecture halls.

"Mm, but I want to," Lajos said, wishing it was brighter out so he could see Toma's blush.

"But you live on the other side of campus," Toma pointed out, his walk slowing a little as they approached the student dormitories. There was a light burning low beside the entrance, but the rest of the building was dark.

"Yes, I do," Lajos agreed, not offering anything further and getting an annoyed sigh for his trouble. "But how did you know that?" Lajos teased. "I'd have remembered if you walked me home."

"That's not funny," Toma groused, nearly tripping over something in the dark. Grumbling under his breath, he conjured a small, bright orb of yellow flame, illuminating the ground in front of them—and his face. Lajos smothered a victorious grin, because the dark flush of color in Toma's cheeks was adorable.

"Everyone knows you live in the faculty dormitory," Toma said, shrugging—an impressive feat with the heavy knapsack slung over his shoulders.

"Do they?" Lajos asked interestedly. "What else does everyone know about me?"

"That you're a shadow mage?" Toma offered, pausing as they reached the door to the dormitories. Lajos didn't, opening the door gallantly for Toma. He was so noble.

Toma slipped past him, the little yellow flame dimming without a word as he entered the hallway. That was pretty impressive—Toma hadn't even seemed to hesitate to focus or anything.

"What else?" Lajos asked, following Toma down the hallway.

"Nothing important," Toma muttered, letting himself into the stairway that led to the upper levels. His voice was quiet—he was probably used to sneaking in at this hour. "No one said you were from Kajal."

"I have no accent," Lajos pointed out, grinning as he followed Toma up the stairs. "So most people assume I'm Marjanian."

"No one said you like to meddle, either," Toma said wryly, pausing at the third floor. "You could have left me at the door."

"Nope," Lajos refuted. "And meddling is fun. Distracts me from awful essays from the first years."

Toma laughed, turning and letting himself into the third floor hallway.

Toma's room proved to be second from the stairway, on the right, and Lajos committed that to memory as Toma fumbled a small brass key from his pocket, a bright red ribbon tied to the end of it.

"This is me," Toma said quietly, unnecessarily. "You can go now."

Lajos raised his eyebrows, snickering.

Toma ignored him, continuing with, "Thank you for walking me home."

"Anytime," Lajos said cheerfully. Toma flashed him a smile, opening his door.

"Oh, hey," Lajos said, abruptly remembering his invitation. "You can come back and use the desk in my office again, if you want to. I enjoyed your company. Made me more studious by example."

"I might take you up on that," Toma said, dropping his bag on the floor inside his door with a thump. Lajos offered him the books he'd carried, resisting the urge to do some inappropriate touching as well.

Maybe tomorrow, Lajos decided, bidding Toma good night and letting him disappear into his room. Grinning stupidly, Lajos turned back the way they'd come and headed home.

*~*~*

Toma wished in vain that he'd had the time to stop for more than a quick breakfast and a single cup of hastily gulped coffee before he'd had to get to his first class.

There was no help for it though, and he'd done more on less in the past. He'd gotten further in his studies in Lajos's office than he'd expected to in the library, at least. And Lajos wanted him—well, he'd invited him to return and Toma thought the torture of spending so long in Lajos's presence might be worth the quiet and lack of other distraction.

Toma glanced around the classroom briefly as the professor finished his lecture and fished out a stack of papers—their latest quiz. The room burst into a buzz of quiet whispers as the professor began to return the quizzes slowly.

Toma sighed, flipping through his notebook to re-read the notes he'd taken on autopilot. Nothing he hadn't already learned from the book, and Toma really wished he was careless enough to skip classes, because he could certainly use the time more productively elsewhere.

"Excellent work, Mr. Sloveski," the professor mumbled as he placed Toma's quiz in front of him. Full marks, as usual. Toma nodded in acknowledgement, tucking the returned paper into his notebook.

The professor returned to the front of the room after distributing the remaining quizzes and dismissed the class with an admonition to do the assigned reading and to not slack just because the end of the year was approaching.

Toma packed up his things quickly, frowning a little at the worn fabric of his knapsack. Hopefully it would last until the end of the year; he didn't want to deal with finding a new one right now.

Standing, Toma shouldered his bag and headed out of the classroom, wondering if he had time to run across campus for another hasty cup of coffee. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Epsen had fallen in step with him until a bony finger prodded his shoulder none too gently.

"What do you want?" Toma asked, not really wanting to deal with Epsen right now. Or ever, really, but the least Epsen could do was lay off until after exams.

"You could be nicer," Epsen said with disapproval. "Especially since you passed your last test."

"Does that mean you'll leave me alone now?" Toma asked, frowning. He highly doubted that. Epsen looked a little surprised at Toma's brusqueness.

"Did you not sleep well or something?" Epsen wondered. "You seem tighter strung today."

"Really," Toma muttered, wishing they could get to the room his next class was in, now. Screw getting coffee.

"You know," Epsen began, and Toma stifled a scowl because he knew what was coming next. "If you're this stressed now, just think how the next six weeks are going to go." Epsen paused. "You could come out with us tonight. Unwind a bit. There're no classes tomorrow."

"I can't," Toma replied automatically, surprised at the offer. But he didn't trust Epsen's motives at all. "I have a tutoring session tomorrow morning."

"So don't drink," Epsen suggested, giving him a supercilious smile. "You can still relax."

"So, what," Toma asked, suddenly angry and sick of Epsen, "I pass all your tests and suddenly I'm fit company for you? No, Epsen, I will not go out with you and your friends. I have better things to do with my time."

Epsen looked completely taken aback at that, and Toma scowled at him once more for good measure, storming into the lecture hall his next class was held in.

Setting his bag down heavily on a desk, he glanced over his shoulder. Epsen had started into the room, but stopped a few steps in. Toma followed his gaze, frowning, and scowled deeply when he caught Lajos's eyes. What was he doing here?

Talking to Professor Jacia, obviously. Epsen didn't look too happy, and looked even less so when Professor Jacia spoke up with, "Mister Palincik, I don't think you're where you belong."

Toma sighed, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands or light something on fire. Or someone. Preferably Epsen, but he'd settle for Epsen's pants. Lajos's amused chuckle broke into his thoughts and he scowled at the man, wondering when he'd gotten so close. He was too damn quiet by far, even if he was a shadow mage.

"Don't laugh at me," Toma muttered, still annoyed. But Lajos hadn't done anything wrong, besides be where he wasn't supposed to be, and be insufferably handsome about it.

"I was laughing at Epsen," Lajos said mildly, raising an eyebrow at Toma and leaning familiarly against the side of Toma's desk.

Toma flushed, sitting down heavily.

"Hmm," Lajos hummed, peering at him speculatively. Toma scowled at him, tired and still incredibly annoyed. "When did you last get a proper night's sleep?"

"That's none of your business," Toma said crossly. He didn't need babying. He knew well enough what he was doing. Besides, he could sleep after exams. He had too much to do beforehand.

Lajos snickered again, reaching out and casually brushing a lock of hair away from Toma's forehead. That was not a proper student-teacher touch, Toma thought, scowling because Lajos wasn't making this whole inappropriate crush thing any easier.

"Now I'm laughing at you," Lajos told him cheerfully, turning to beckon to Professor Jacia. She looked far too amused that there was an insufferable shadow mage perched on Toma's desk.

"Can I borrow him, Jace?" Lajos asked diffidently. Toma made a noise of protest, nearly smacking Lajos for his impertinence.

"Only if you do something productive with him," Jacia said easily, and Toma groaned, wondering why the professors seemed to be ganging up on him.

"I know just the thing," Lajos said, grinning mischievously. Toma flushed, opening his mouth to protest—he couldn't skip his classes, not on Lajos's whims.

"You're far enough ahead that you don't actually need to attend class to ace the exam," Jacia told him, smiling a little. "And I know you'll be here next class anyway. Lajos…" She smirked knowingly at Lajos. "Just make sure he gets to his next class, hmm? Tarain isn't as forgiving as I am."

"Yes, ma'am," Lajos agreed smartly, winking at her. He stood up quickly, scooping up Toma's knapsack before he could get a word in edgewise. "Come on, then."

"I don't like you at all," Toma complained, getting to his feet reluctantly. Lajos just snickered, giving Jacia a nod as she returned to the front of the room. Toma flushed a little as he followed Lajos from the room, well aware of the curious stares of the other students.

"What are you doing with me?" Toma asked as they entered the mostly empty hallway.

Lajos just smirked at him, completely untroubled by the weight of Toma's bag.

"It's a surprise," Lajos said cheerfully, guiding Toma into the stairwell with a gentle hand on his back. His touch lingered for a few seconds more than were necessary and Toma stifled the urge to set Lajos's shoes on fire or do something stupid like lean into the touch.

"I think it'll be good for you, though," Lajos continued thoughtfully, his steps soundless on the stairs behind Toma. "Get rid of some of the tension in you."

Toma flushed, vividly recalling the way Lajos had held him a few nights before, pressed close against Lajos's broad chest. No way, he decided firmly. No way, and he'd set Lajos's balls on fire if he tried it.

Maybe.

*~*~*

Lajos restrained himself from laughing as a flush crept up Toma's neck. The poor boy was wound so tight, it probably wasn't sporting to tease him so.

Lajos really couldn't help himself, though. Toma was adorable, so surly and annoyed. He only wished he was going to relax Toma the way he was implying. That would be fun…but too soon.

"Go left," Lajos directed, amused when Toma looked confused. They were headed away from the lecture halls and in the wrong direction for anything but the casting hall.

Something the Kajal university didn't have, so Toma probably didn't realize some of the things the building included. It was a plain, huge building, with a domed ceiling that rose high above their heads. The outside was constructed of some pale, beige rock, and the doors were propped open invitingly.

"Ever been here?" Lajos asked as they approach and Toma's surliness melted away to be replaced by curiosity.

"No," he answered absently. "What is it?"

"Casting hall," Lajos answered, giving Toma a little nudge to get him walking again. "This is where the lower years practice their spellcasting until they can use it without setting themselves on fire."

Toma stifled something that could've been a snicker, biting his lip as they entered the lobby.

"Fire casting is on the second floor," Lajos directed, guiding Toma in the direction of the staircase instead of letting him gawk at the shining, polished stone of the lobby.

"Why are we here?" Toma asked, frowning at him over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs. "I don't set myself on fire anymore."

"No, but you looked like you were going to set someone else on fire," Lajos said cheerfully, snickering when Toma blushed.

"I can set you on fire," Toma muttered, looking cross again. Lajos made a note to make sure Toma got back to his room at a more reasonable hour tonight, provided Toma camped out in his office again.

"So you're going to let off some steam and I won't have any important limbs roasted," Lajos said, grinning and leading Toma down the hallway. Most of the practice room were in use, but near the end one of the smaller rooms was empty.

Completely empty, not even a stick of furniture. The walls were slightly ashy, giving the white stone a grey appearance. Toma entered the room slowly staring curiously at the walls.

"How many mages did it take to make these rooms?" Toma asked, looking slightly awed. "And to maintain them?"

"The professors all pitched in. I think they also hire mages from town when the protections get especially low," Lajos answered, amused.

"Huh," Toma muttered, walking the perimeter of the room. He paused when he reached the door again, frowning at Lajos. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Conjure fire," Lajos said, gesturing at the wide-open space in front of them. "Burn the hottest fire you can, get rid of a little tension."

Toma muttered something Lajos thought might have been insulting before turning to face the room. Closing his eyes, he took a slow, deep breath and a point of flame burst into life across the room.

It was behind a barrier similar to the one that protected the room, Lajos realized, impressed. He couldn't even feel the heat as Toma's fingers twitched and the flame swirled into a bright orange color, twisting and turning restlessly.

Toma's eyes were still closed, and Lajos was torn between watching the flame and watching the calm spreading over Toma's face.

The flame was a deep purple now, prelude to the blue he'd seen Toma conjure the other night. Sure enough, the flame twisted into itself again before turning a bright, sky blue. Lajos grinned faintly, remembering the shock on Epsen's face when his soaked dummy had gone up in bright blue fames.

The flame across the room crept towards blue green and Lajos's eyebrows crept up. Surely if Toma could conjure green he'd have done that the other night?

Apparently not, however, and Lajos grinned as Toma's flame flicked green for a long moment before extinguishing with a snap and a crackle.

Toma sighed and the barrier between them and the other half of the room collapsed, sending a wave of heat rushing over Lajos. Toma muttered a few spell words halfheartedly, feeding energy into the much-depleted barrier spells. Lajos smiled, amused; he'd never seen a student do that, ever.

"Feel better?" Lajos asked cheerfully and Toma obligingly flushed. He shrugged, looking tired but less cranky. "All right, next stop."

"Next stop?" Toma asked warily, and Lajos opened the door to the hallway, breathing a sigh of relief at the markedly cooler air.

"Yep," Lajos confirmed, grinning but not elaborating. "Trust me."

Toma sighed loudly, but he didn't protest. He even smiled a little, glancing back into the little practice room curiously.

"So can I use these rooms any time? Or only with a professor in tow?" Toma asked, stumbling a bit as he let himself into the stairwell.

"We'll it's good form to go with a professor, but higher level students don't need to. Since you're six weeks from graduating, I think you qualify as a higher level student," Lajos explained cheerfully, following Toma down the stairs. "And if you always repair the shields when you're done, I can't imagine anyone will complain."

Toma nodded, frowning briefly. "You don't have to carry my bag. I'm not a girl."

"Huh, and here I thought we'd burned the cranky out of you," Lajos observed as they entered the lobby again. He hitched Toma's bag higher but made no move to relinquish it. "This is my ransom. I know you won't run off while I've got it."

Toma rolled his eyes, poorly stifling a yawn. "I wouldn't run off," he denied. "Where are we going?"

"To the café," Lajos said, taking a small measure of pity on Toma. "Feed you and get you coffee, that's the next step in my nefarious plan to put you in a better mood."

"You don't have to put me in a better mood," Toma said. "I'd get over it eventually and I probably wouldn't actually set anyone on fire."

"Can't take that chance," Lajos said with a straight face. "I don't think anyone would be happy if you incinerated someone with pretty green flames."

Toma made a face at him. "Don't tell anyone that. I get pestered enough for blue flames."

"It'll be our secret," Lajos promised, unsurprised Toma wanted to keep it secret. He was also pleased because Toma had trusted him enough to display it in front of him. "Come on, they make the best scones at the café this time of day."

Toma laughed quietly, pushing his hair out of his face and following him out of the building. Lajos surreptitiously watched every movement, trying not to imagine how much more relaxed Toma could be and the various off-limits methods Lajos could employ to make him that way.

Because, after all, they wouldn't be off-limits ways for too much longer.

*~*~*

Toma was working diligently at the second desk—his desk, as Lajos was beginning to think of it. It wasn't a class day, so Toma had been there since Lajos had let him in. He'd been thoroughly settled in the hallway before Lajos had arrived, and Lajos was seriously contemplating giving him his own key.

There were only two weeks left before the accolades examinations. Final exams for the semester's courses would take place this week, and then there'd be a free week before the accolades examinations. Lajos didn't really think it was very fair to subject students to finals and then accolades, but none of the other professors seemed too concerned.

Of course, none of the other professors had pretty fire mages squirreled away in their offices either.

Toma was so intently focused it was a little scary. Lajos had a devil of a time making sure he ate and didn't work through all his meals. It was also hard to make Toma sleep properly—Lajos lost track of time himself and he thought Toma might have stayed up in his dorm studying a few nights after Lajos had walked him back.

Lajos was mostly disappointed that he'd had to sideline his plans to get Toma into bed; Toma was far too distracted and too stressed for Lajos to do more than tease and keep up with his flirting.

Lajos's own classes were finishing up as well, giving him a deluge of final papers and exams to grade. He'd had to push his research aside for a bit to focus on his classes. It really was unfortunate that he hadn't had occasion to meet up with Toma earlier in the semester. He really could use a nice distracting tumble.

Hopefully after exams, Toma would stick around long enough for Lajos to proposition him. He was relatively sure Toma's plans were still ambiguous—the last time he'd asked, a week ago, Toma had stared at him blankly before telling him seriously that he wouldn't hesitate to set Lajos's hair on fire if he didn't stop with the interruptions.

Lajos had maybe made a pest of himself that day.

He'd been good today, only interrupting Toma to make him eat a plateful of lunch. Toma had done so quickly, taking an actual break from his books to eat. Probably so that Lajos didn't interrupt him all afternoon to make him eat.

"Well, damn," Toma muttered, dropping his pen and flexing his fingers.

"Taking a break?" Lajos asked, smirking as he set aside the essays he wasn't reading in favor of mooning over Toma.

"Forgot a book," Toma muttered, and Lajos looked measuringly at the tall stack of books that covered the top of Toma's desk.

"In the library or your room?" Lajos asked, wondering at what point Toma's room could be classified as a library. He had an unhealthy number of books in there.

"Room," Toma muttered, shrugging. "I'll just add the reference later, I guess."

"Ready for a break?" Lajos asked, climbing to his feet. It had been a few hours since lunch. Toma could use another break, even if it was just to go raid the faculty lounge for food again.

"You should keep your own store of food in here," Toma grumbled, but obliging climbed to his feet. He stretched slowly, doing nothing good for Lajos's peace of mind.

"Then we'd never leave," Lajos pointed out with a grin, barely managing to keep his hands to himself. "I think walls other than these are nice to see sometimes."

Toma grumbled, but he was smiling a little. His work was probably going well, Lajos decided. Toma was a lot less grumpy than he usually was when he realized he'd forgotten a book.

"I can't wait for these exams to be over," Toma said fervently, waiting as Lajos locked the door to the office behind them.

"Me too," Lajos agreed, though he rather thought that was because he wanted to be able to pounce Toma, not because he was sick of the endless end-of-year schoolwork.

"More bad first year essays?" Toma asked, not even seeming to notice when Lajos steered him towards the faculty lounge with a gentle touch to his back.

"Partly," Lajos agreed. He really needed to stop torturing himself by assigning essays to the first years. Exams were so much easier to grade.

"And the other part?" Toma asked, letting them into the faculty lounge easily. It was empty, as it usually was when they made their sojourns there. The other professors were as sequestered in their offices as he and Toma were.

"Too much work," Lajos groused, pretty sure he didn't want to admit anything yet. "Other things."

Didn't mean he couldn't tease though. Toma rolled his eyes, heading for the bowl of fruit on the center of the dining table. He picked out a few apples, pushing his hair out of his face absently.

"What other things?" Toma asked, watching Lajos as he rummaged through the cold box one of the water professors had created.

Letting his gaze wander over Toma lazily, he smirked a little when Toma flushed. "Other things."

"Right," Toma muttered, sitting down in one of the dining chairs. Lajos raised an eyebrow, a little surprised that Toma was willing to take a slightly longer break.

"My eyes are crossing and my fingers hurt," Toma complained crankily. "And I'm a little ahead even with forgetting that book."

"I know how you feel," Lajos commiserated, pulling out a half-full bottle of red wine and fetching a pair of glasses. "My brain hurts trying to puzzle out some of those damn essays."

Toma laughed, not looking very sympathetic as Lajos sat down heavily in the chair next to him. Lajos poured a glass of wine for Toma before pouring one for himself, unsurprised when Toma flexed his fingers before reaching for his wine.

"Here," Lajos said, reaching out as Toma set down his wine glass. Toma shot him a startled look as he caught Toma's writing hand in his.

"I'm a professional, relax," Lajos drawled, gently massaging Toma's stiff fingers and knuckles. Toma did relax, the frown slipping off his face as Lajos carefully worked loose the tension in Toma's hand.

"You're good at that," Toma observed quietly, a hint of color in his cheeks as Lajos worked.

"I am very good at this," Lajos agreed modestly, grinning when Toma just rolled his eyes.

"I really don't want to go back to work," Toma confessed after a moment, not trying to free his hand even when Lajos stopped massaging. He ran his thumb over Toma's knuckles instead.

"You could practice your spellcasting instead," Lajos said, grinning when Toma rolled his eyes. He'd been trying to persuade Toma to let him know what he'd be doing for the practical part of his accolades examination, but Toma was stubbornly keeping it secret.

"You'd like that," Toma said, shaking his head. "You'll have to wait until I take the exam."

"I don't want to," Lajos said, giving Toma a beseeching look "Surely you have to practice."

"You might be on the exam board," Toma protested. "No one gets to see it until then."

"I won't be on your exam board," Lajos reminded him, squeezing Toma's hand gently in reprimand. He'd said that before.

"You don't know that,' Toma said, rolling his eyes. "Shadow mages are not prescient."

"No, but if I'm picked, I'll excuse myself for personal reasons," Lajos said reasonably, smirking as Toma's cheeks flushed again.

"You can do that?" Toma asked, sitting up and curling his fingers in Lajos's hand. "Wait, what personal reasons?"

"Yes, I can do that," Lajos answered, more than a little amused at Toma's questions. "It's in case a professor finds himself less than objective in regards to a student, whether he dislikes or is too fond of a student."

"Oh." Toma mulled this over for a half a second before lifting his chin challengingly. "So you're too fond of me?"

"Perhaps," Lajos teased, leaning closer. "I don't know, I might dislike you."

"That's certainly the conclusion I'd come to if you weren't feeling up my hand," Toma said dryly, and Lajos snickered, squeezing Toma's fingers in appreciation of the jest.

"I'm just being helpful," Lajos said innocently. "Doesn't it feel better now?"

"Yes," Toma admitted, wrinkling his nose adorably. "Though now I'm suspicious of your motives."

"My motives are the same as they ever were," Lajos said, snickering when Toma gave him a flat stare.

"That's not reassuring," Toma replied, sighing a bit as he disentangled his fingers from Lajos's.  "I should get back to work," he said reluctantly, picking up his glass of wine and standing.

"But we were having a moment," Lajos protested cheerfully, standing up and taking Toma's wine glass away from him.

"We were, weren't we?" Toma asked, looking a little confused. "This isn't fair, you know, I have exams."

"I have first year essays," Lajos countered, well aware of Toma's eyes on him. Toma didn't move though, as Lajos crowded into his space. Lajos touched his fingers gently to Toma's cheeks and Toma leaned into it, sighing softly.

"You have a point," Toma muttered, his eyes slipping shut. They didn't move for a moment, and then Lajos got sick of waiting and pulled Toma closer by the expedient of hooking an arm around Toma's slender waist and yanking. Toma's eyes snapped open and he gave Lajos a half-hearted glare.

"I have lots of points," Lajos said, his voice low.

Toma peered at him incredulously, a laugh slipping past his lips.

"That sounded a little more lecherous than I meant it," Lajos observed, tilting Toma's head up and silencing his laughter with a kiss.

Toma was still laughing, but he kissed back after a moment, tasting of wine and ever so faintly of ash. Lajos pulled him closer, drawing the kiss deeper and not letting go until Toma pushed at his chest rather ineffectually.

"This is not helping," Toma scolded breathlessly. "I really do need to get back to work."

Lajos heaved a put-upon sigh, stealing a last quick kiss before reluctantly letting Toma go. "I suppose."

"It's not like you don't have work, too," Toma pointed out logically, pleasantly flushed as he pulled out of Lajos's arms. Lajos sighed again, disconsolately, but he was smiling as he followed Toma from the room.

*~*~*

Toma climbed the stairs wearily, wishing in vain that Lajos's office was closer. His knapsack was nearly empty, with only the things he'd needed for his last final and a single book to distract him before it began. He really should be going back to his room to sleep. Lajos would no doubt be grading tonight though. But he'd be grading all day tomorrow as well, so Toma certainly could see him then.

Except he really wanted to see Lajos tonight, and maybe just lean against him a little. Lajos was nice and solid, Toma thought, smiling a little because that was a silly thought.

There was only one week left until the accolades exams. Toma was terrified he'd do horribly, that he'd missed some crucial subject and wouldn't be able to answer half the questions on the exam.

Lajos had laughed at him when he'd voiced that fear, and then Toma had been forced to make him stop. With his mouth. And if kisses only seemed to make Lajos even more smug, well, Toma could deal with that.

There was light spilling into the darker hallway from Lajos's office, and Toma was a little surprised to hear voices from inside. Approaching even more slowly (a feat, considering how slowly he'd been shuffling along before), Toma wondered why anyone would be in Lajos's office this late, after exams were finished. It was probably another professor; Lajos seemed to be friendly with most of them.

Hesitating as he reached the doorway, Toma blinked against the brighter light as he leaned against the doorframe. He stared in confusion at Epsen and Lajos, wondering why Lajos had never mentioned that Epsen was one of his students. Though perhaps he had, that first night when he'd accosted Toma in a dark alleyway.

Lajos had his back to the door and he was leaning over the desk, pointing something out on the paper in front of him. Epsen wasn't paying him any mind, because he could see the door and apparently found that smirking at Toma was a better way to spend his time. He was angled towards the door, and almost…invitingly towards Lajos—but that was probably Toma being exhausted and a little possessive.

Except then Epsen edged even closer to Lajos, the smirk sliding from his face to be replaced with an earnest, open expression that made Toma want to gag—he nearly did, but he was too preoccupied with the observation that Lajos didn't look alarmed or annoyed at Epsen's intrusion on his personal space. Lajos looked up at Epsen…and then Epsen moved even closer, and kissed him.

Toma choked, coughing, and Lajos tore away, looking nothing short of furious as he looked up and met Toma's eyes. Toma flushed, indignant as Epsen just stood there, not moving, and looking so insufferably smug that Toma nearly gave into the urge to set his clothes on fire.

Toma didn't even try to apologize for interrupting—his chest was far too tight to even think about speaking. Lajos didn't really look in the mood to be accepting an apology, and since he was going around kissing Epsen…well, he didn't deserve an apology, Toma rationalized fiercely, turning on his heel and retreating as quickly as he could make his feet move.

Lajos didn't try and stop him either, and Toma's heart sank. He was a moron, an utter moron. Taking the stairs to the first floor swiftly, Toma shut his eyes when he reached the landing. Still no sign of Lajos or Epsen, and Toma hesitated briefly before pushing into the first floor hallway instead of leaving the building.

He didn't particularly feel like returning to his room yet, and heading outside…well, there was nowhere else on campus where he wouldn't run into other students, either celebrating the end of finals or studying frantically for the accolades exams.

Epsen had kissed Lajos.

Lajos had been furious. Toma trudged down the hallway, barely paying any attention as he passed a few lit offices. Professors grading finals, probably.

Had Lajos just been playing another joke on Toma? He was from the Radile sector…but that wasn't fair. If Lajos was a jerk, it wasn't because of where he'd grown up.

So had Lajos been furious because Toma had interrupted? Because he'd wanted to keep on playing his games for a while longer? Or because Epsen had kissed him? Toma would be furious if Epsen kissed him.

Toma slowed as he neared the end of the hallway, glancing around before letting himself into the tiny study cubicle tucked next to the outside wall. The air was a little stale, but Toma ignored that, letting his bag drop to the floor as he took a seat in the short desk chair. The desk wasn't much taller; Toma's knees barely fit beneath it.

Conjuring a small flame, he put it through its paces—from yellow to orange to red to purple to blue, but not into green. He didn't think he had the energy to force it into green.

He should probably go find Lajos and demand answers. Sighing, Toma tipped the chair back, balancing it on its back legs. He should, but he wouldn't. If Lajos found him…well, that meant Lajos was looking and Epsen was probably nursing a black eye or worse.

If Lajos didn't…well, it could just mean that he hadn't thought to look here—if he even knew that this room existed. Toma scowled, making the bright blue flame flicker green for a brief moment before he made it turn a sun-bright yellow to start over again. If Lajos didn't find him, he'd find Lajos and light him on fire. Lajos should really know better than to mess around with fire mages.

*~*~*

Lajos really wanted to explode. It had taken him too long to get to the point where he could actually speak without the first words out of his mouth being a particularly nasty curse.

Now, half an hour later, his hold on his temper was still shaky and he was sorely regretting not loosing said curse on the presumptuous, petty upstart of a fire mage who'd accosted him in front of Toma.

At least the look on his face had sent Epsen scurrying from the room like Lajos had thrown the curse on him.

Unfortunately, Toma had been long gone by then and Lajos was furious because he couldn't find Toma and that should have been a simple thing to accomplish. Also at Epsen, for doing such a stupid thing in the first place. If he found Epsen again before he found Toma…well, Epsen would regret it. He would regret it with Lajos's fist.

Except that he couldn't do anything like that; Epsen was a student—technically, his student. So he couldn't do anything like that until after Epsen graduated. All right, that would be the second previously taboo thing he'd do to former students after the accolades exams.

Maybe number one, if he couldn't find Toma.

Scowling fiercely, Lajos let himself into the student dormitory building. Toma needed to be here. Taking the stairs two at a time, Lajos didn't pause until he reached Toma's floor. Pushing into the hallway, he ignored the first year student who gawked at him from the far end of the corridor. She ducked into her room with a tiny squeak.

There was no light coming from beneath Toma's door. That didn't mean anything though; Toma could be in there, lights out so that Lajos thought he wasn't there. Knocking loudly, Lajos waited impatiently…but to no avail. Toma didn't open the door.

That made him even more annoyed—if Toma was in there and ignoring him, they were going to have words…well, even more words, though Lajos really was contemplating the "throw Toma against the nearest solid surface and kiss the stupidity out of him" plan.

Concentrating briefly, Lajos cast a spell of intangibility—and that could easily get him kicked out of the university, all the more since he was using it to invade a student's room. Brushing the thought away, Lajos slipped into Toma's room.

Toma wasn't there. There was no sign he'd been here recently either—everything was dark and arranged neatly. So Toma hadn't even stopped here on his way to hide somewhere else.

Drifting back into the hallway, Lajos let himself become tangible again. He'd check the library next—maybe Toma had decided to get some studying in. Lajos wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. If he wasn't there, there was always the casting hall, Lajos decided determinedly. He'd find Toma tonight, if he had to look in every room on campus.

*~*~*

It was pure chance that Lajos found Toma at all. He'd checked the library, the café, the casting rooms, and Toma's room again, all to no avail. He'd just about decided to camp out in Toma's room for the evening, but it couldn't hurt to try his office again. Maybe Toma had wised up…or at least wanted a confrontation.

Frowning up at the second floor of the office building speculatively, he nearly ran over Jacia on her way out.

"Ah, Lajos," Jacia said, still pulling on her jacket as she pushed the doors the rest of the way open. "I wondered where you were."

"Do you need me for something?" Lajos asked, barely keeping the snap from his tone.

Or not at all, as Jacia raised her eyebrows, her fingers stilling where they were fastening the buttons down the front of her jacket.

" I don't," she said, frowning at him reprovingly. "If you've messed with his heart the week before accolades exams, Lajos, I won't be the only one after you."

Lajos scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Where is he?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you," Jacia said slowly. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't what I did," Lajos said, narrowing his eyes at Jacia. Her office was on the first floor…so presumably so was Toma, otherwise Jacia wouldn't know he was upset. Lajos was really going to have to smack himself if it turned out that Toma had stayed in the faculty office building while he'd run all over campus. Or he could just add another to the tally of hits he was going to give Epsen.

"I don't have time for this," Lajos groused, sidestepping Jacia and heading for the building's entrance. "I already searched most of campus." And he'd search every room on the first floor if he had to.

"Lajos, wait," Jacia said, exasperated. Lajos paused, turning towards her expectantly. "He's in the spare exam room."

Lajos stared at her blankly. The what room? Jacia just rolled her eyes at him and said, "Go left; it's the room at the end of the hallway with the flickering colors of light."

"Thank you," Lajos said gruffly, not lingering to see if Jacia had anything more to say. He saw the flickering light as soon as he let himself into the first floor corridor and walked towards it, masking the sound of his footsteps.

Toma wasn't paying any attention to the doorway. He was perched backwards on the room's only chair, his head resting on his arms, which were folded over the back of the chair. His eyes were focused on a small flame the size of Lajos's hand. It was twisting and turning on itself, cycling through a number of colors before beginning again.

Lajos would be willing to bet he'd been doing that for a while now. Clearing his throat, Lajos fixed a scowl into place on his face, focusing on how annoyed he was that it had taken so long to find Toma.

Toma's head shot up and Lajos nearly laughed when he almost knocked himself off the chair in his surprise. The little flame extinguished with a neat pop, flooding the room with darkness. Toma cursed, muttering a quick spell that created a tiny, bright flame that flooded the room with light.

"You're an idiot." Lajos leaned against the doorway, narrowing his eyes at Toma when he just laughed. It was a tired, sad sound though, and Lajos rolled his eyes, valiantly resisting the urge to cross the room and kiss some sense into the moron.

"I know," Toma said after a moment of silence, the only sound the crackling flame. "I thought…it just looked like…why was Epsen even in your office?"

"Question about his final," Lajos said sourly. "Did you really think I'd be that cruel?"

"Not when I thought about it," Toma said, slumping even lower in his seat. He looked exhausted, and Lajos really wished Toma would make it easier for him to stay annoyed. "You just seemed so furious I was there."

"I was furious," Lajos began, giving up on keeping his distance, "because that little brat tried to use me in whatever game he's playing with you. And he kissed me."

"Oh," Toma said, very quietly. He wasn't looking at Lajos, instead his gaze was focused on his hands. "I'm sorry. For running off and for…because Epsen dragged you into whatever his problem is. What in the world did he hope to get from that?"

"Upsetting you the week before accolades, hmm…" Lajos rolled his eyes, wondering how in the world Toma could be so smart about magic but be so stupid about Epsen. "No, I don't know. It's a complete mystery."

"You're not funny," Toma muttered, resting his head on the back of the chair and closing his eyes. "Can we talk more about this after I sleep?"

Lajos snickered, carding his fingers through Toma's hair affectionately. "Why didn't you come back to my office if you'd decided I wasn't really a giant prick?"

"Professor Jacia went, but you weren't there," Toma said, relaxing into Lajos's touch. His cheeks were turning a little pink, either from Lajos's touch or from being caught sulking in here by another professor.

"I was running around campus trying to find you," Lajos grumbled. "I still don't understand. Why stay here?"

"It's quiet," Toma said, his eyes still shut. "Also, I think I may actually be too tired to move."

"You poor thing," Lajos said unsympathetically. He tugged lightly on a stray lock of Toma's hair. "How did today's exams go?"

"Okay, I think," Toma said, sighing when Lajos pulled his hand away. "You didn't break Epsen did you? I don't think you're allowed to do that."

"Not yet," Lajos said, grinning viciously. "It's the second thing on my to-do list after the accolades examinations are over."

"Second?" Toma asked, frowning in confusion. "What's the first?"

"You," Lajos said, smirking when Toma predictably flushed, the color in his cheeks standing out clearly in the light of his conjured flame.

"Are you sure you don't want to hit Epsen first?" Toma asked teasingly. He made a noise of protest when Lajos made him stand up with a firm grip on his arm.

"You're much more important," Lajos said, a little surprised when Toma stumbled into him, falling against his chest with a decided lack of grace.

"Can't walk," Toma said, burying his face against the front of Lajos's shirt so that the words came out a bit muffled.

"I'm not carrying you across campus," Lajos said, wondering if Toma would be able to make it that far. "My room is closer than yours, though."

Toma huffed out a laugh, his breath puffing against Lajos's collarbone. "Why professor, I do believe you're trying to take advantage of me."

Lajos snorted, amused. "Like you'd be worth anything in bed right now."

"I think I resent that," Toma said, but he let Lajos go without a fuss. Lajos retrieved Toma's remarkably light bag before returning to Toma's side. He wrapped a steadying arm around Toma's waist, leading him from the room.

"Did you want to go back to your room?" Lajos asked, making the offer because it was the noble thing to do. Toma shrugged, leaning heavily against him as he led the way out into the hallway.

"Yours is closer. I want to sleep," Toma said, awkwardly patting Lajos's arm for some reason. Lajos snickered, feeling ten times better than he had half an hour ago. It helped that he'd have Toma to wake up to in the morning.

*~*~*

Toma was all but vibrating with nerves. The written portion of the accolades exam was barely over; it had taken place yesterday. Five solid hours of short answer questions and essays and quizzes on every subject imaginable.

The practical portion of the exam was going on now, and Toma was currently waiting his turn to go before the panel of judges with the two dozen other mages waiting their turns. The practical exam would take most of the day; each student was slated twenty minutes for their demonstration. Going over time lost points, but you earned points if you went under with a suitably impressive display.

They were outside, in the courtyard in the center of campus. A large stone wall had been constructed in the center of the clearing, and they waited on one side until their names were called. Then they walked to the other side where the judges and the crowd were and did their last bit of magic as a student. Hopefully.

It was torture, listening to the judges being named, hearing the crowd's reaction to whatever was being done on the other side of the wall. Toma was trying to hold still, but it was hard to not get up and pace like a few of the other waiting mages were.

There were a lot of spectators, judging from the noise. That wasn't helping Toma's nerves any, and neither was Epsen. He was standing maybe a dozen feet away, alternately scowling at the ground and shooting Toma speculative looks. Toma ignored him as best he was able, his thoughts scattering between what he'd do after the exam, to the spell he was going to perform, to waking up in Lajos's bed each morning this week, to the whispered promises with which Lajos kept tormenting him.

"Chalar Ivenshar," boomed an unfamiliar voice from the other side of the wall. A nervous looking girl edged her way around the barrier, and Toma made a face, plucking at the grass he was sitting on. They were doing it alphabetically by last name, and his last name began with an S.

Epsen's began with a P, if Toma wasn't mistaken. Making a small pile of the grass he'd pulled up, he smiled faintly as Lajos's name was called for the board and his voice boomed through the courtyard as he accepted.

Hopefully he wouldn't be called for Toma's board. No one had yet declined a position on the exam board for a student—Toma didn't want to imagine the reaction were Lajos to do it for him. Biting his lip as the girl did something that made the crowd gasp collectively, Toma wished in vain that he'd taken his father's name instead of his mother's. Then he'd have been one of the first to be called.

The next name was called, but Toma barely paid any attention as someone sat down next to him. Epsen. Toma regarded him coldly, wondering what the brat was going to try now.

"Do they do it like this in Kajal?" Epsen asked as the announcer declared the names of the professors to judge the next student.

"No," Toma said shortly, curling his fingers in the cuffs of his pant leg. He refused to move; Epsen was not going to get to him now.

"How do they do it?" Epsen fidgeted a little, and Toma wondered if he was nervous. Probably. The accolades exams were no small matter. Still, that wasn't Toma's problem and Epsen would deserve it if Toma decided to fuck with him now.

"Read a book," Toma said, rolling his eyes and turning back towards the stone barrier as a strong gust of wind ripped around it.

Epsen huffed, sounding annoyed, but Toma didn't really care. He just wanted Epsen to go away, to get his exam done, and then to drag Lajos off somewhere private.

"Look, I'm sorry," Epsen said, not sounding very sincere. He sounded more annoyed than anything, and Toma scoffed in disbelief.

"Look, Epsen," Toma parroted, shifting a little so he could face Epsen. "I don't care what you thought you were doing, I don't care if you never speak to me again—I would prefer it if you just went away and left me alone."

Epsen looked thoroughly affronted, and Toma rolled his eyes, climbing to his feet. He wasn't giving ground; he was removing himself from Epsen's proximity before he did anything irreversible to the bastard.

Maybe he'd get in on Lajos's to-do list.

Pacing around behind the barrier, Toma tried to relax as more names were called. Epsen stayed sitting next to Toma's previous spot. He didn't try to get up or do anything though; he just sat there, looking increasingly nervous as more names were called.

"Epsen Palincik."

Epsen got to his feet and walked quickly out. Toma sighed, running his hand over his face as the announcer began to name professors. Toma nearly fell over laughing though, when the third name was announced.

"Professor Lajos Misyk."

Toma stifled his laughter at the utterly incredulous look he got from a few of the students still waiting with him. He was sorely tempted to peek around the stone barrier to see the look on Epsen's face, but he wasn't willing to be docked any points so he stayed where he was.

"I decline," Lajos said, his voice supernaturally amplified. The spectators burst into whispers and Toma covered his mouth, like the wide smile he was wearing was as inappropriate as his laughter had been.

Whatever Epsen did for his exam, the spectators seemed pleased. They were an easy lot, though; they'd seemed pleased by every display so far. There were three more students before Toma's name was called, but they went too quickly and then it was Toma's turn to walk out from behind the barrier.

There was a spell cast around the exam area—to keep in any stray magic and to protect the judges and spectators. They looked much like the shields in the casting hall, absorptive and protective, but much, much stronger.

Toma glanced around a little nervously, catching Epsen's eye—he was sitting in one of the first rows with the rest of the students who'd already finished their exams. Toma didn't let his gaze linger, scanning the ranks of the professors—and there was Lajos, smirking like he knew something Toma didn't.

Toma relaxed a little despite the urge to roll his eyes at the man. Then the announcer—a tiny wisp of a man with a basket of names next to him—picked out the first professor to make up Toma's exam board.

The first professor was a woman who taught an intermediate fire casting course that Toma had taken last semester. The second was Professor Jacia, who smiled reassuringly at him as she accepted, even though she should have declined. The third was a man he'd never heard of, and the fourth and fifth were professors he knew by sight but had never had a class with.

The five of them settled at the table in front of the mass of spectators—Toma noted a bit uneasily that not all of the spectators were students; there were some townsfolk mixed in.

"You may begin," the announcer—mediator?—declared, his voice booming across the courtyard. Toma nodded in acknowledgement, took a deep breath, and drew out his crystal wand.

Speaking the words to the fire sculpting spell loudly and clearly, Toma weaved in the first few colors. His nerves fell away as he worked—he'd done this too many times to count—weaving the blossoms, then concentrating fiercely on the stems and leaves of the bouquet.

They came out green—to the audible shock of the spectators—and Toma relaxed, ignoring the cheers as he conjured a bright blue ribbon of flame and weaved it into a bow around the stems of the flowers.

Finishing the spoken spell to set the bouquet, he waited a moment to show that it would hold before dissipating the fire and strengthening the barriers around the exhibition area.

"Well done," Jacia said, dismissing him from center stage. Toma smiled a little, thoroughly relieved as he trudged into the spectator area and took a seat as far from Epsen as he could. Epsen didn't look like he was planning to do anything though; he looked utterly flummoxed and Toma stifled a snicker as he slumped in his chair and waited for the last two students to finish the exams.

*~*~*

Lajos narrowed his eyes at the reed thin air mage who was insisting on beginning the grading tonight. He and Jacia were having it out, and Lajos wanted nothing more than to leave them to it and go rescue Toma.

His fire mage was being badgered by a small group of men from town—and Lajos was annoyed that the college issued invitations to view the accolades exams to anyone who gave them funding. It let in unsavory types who were searching for talented mages to do their dirty work.

"The students will want their grades quickly!"

"Not tonight they won't!" Jacia snapped, crossing her arms. "Does anyone else want to begin grading tonight?" Jacia asked, turning and glowering dangerously at the other professors.

She was a slight woman, but formidable and Lajos grumbled out a forceful, "I don't."

"Tomorrow's good enough," a professor Lajos didn't know spoke up. "We can meet in the library in the morning; I can guarantee there won't be any students there."

"Sounds good," Lajos agreed, turning and stalking off before anyone could disagree. Crossing the courtyard, he ignored the faint protest behind him as he approached the spectator's area.

Toma caught his eye as he threaded his way through the chairs, rolling his eyes as he walked away from the three men trying to talk to him. One of them was mid-sentence, but Toma was obviously ignoring him and he trailed off.

"Hi," Lajos greeted, not giving Toma a chance to do anything more than smile before he hooked his hand in the front of Toma's shirt and pulled him close. Crushing his mouth to Toma's, he made a rude gesture towards whichever professor wolf-whistled at them. Toma kissed back fiercely, his arms twining around Lajos's neck easily.

"Hi." Toma breathed the word against his lips when Lajos regretfully let him up for air. "I haven't actually passed—

"

Lajos snorted in amusement. "You passed. You probably got perfect marks. Your spell was impressive and perfectly cast and no one else thought to reinforce the barrier."

"Huh," Toma said, a smile curving his lips. "Well, then."

"Your room's closer," Lajos said, kissing Toma briefly. "But my bed's bigger."

"I have to get my things out by tomorrow," Toma said, making Lajos scowl. "Can I move in with you or should I move into the room they're giving me?"

"Who's giving you a room?" Lajos asked suspiciously, shooting a dark look over his shoulder at the three men conferring agitatedly. They backed off even more, taking a few steps away.

"The college," Toma said, tugging at his hair playfully. "I'm working with Jacia on her research project –"

"What? Why aren't you working with me?" Lajos asked, scowling, even as the little knot of tension over Toma's future plans unraveled. "I could use an assistant."

"Yes, and I like you, but I don't think I could spend all day, every day with you without wanting to set you on fire," Toma said honestly. "I can still help you, if you want."

"Hmm, of course you can help me," Lajos drawled, smirking a little at the flush that bloomed to life in Toma's cheeks. "But first we'll get you moved."

"Or second, we'll get me moved?" Toma suggested, pulling Lajos's head towards him suggestively.

"I like the way you think," Lajos said, obligingly kissing Toma lightly before pulling away completely. Toma might technically not be a student any longer, but that didn't make ravishing him in the courtyard in broad daylight any less illegal. Smirking, Lajos pulled Toma towards the student dormitories, his hands in totally inappropriate places.

Fin