He Couldn't Be That Bad? // Sebastian Sallow and You (spicy)

7. Strawberries for Ominis

"The undercroft is sound proof, but I don't think it's entirely fireproof." Ominis says from behind me.

I startle and whip around. The flaming circle diminishes before I get any higher than my shins. "Sorry. I've practiced confringo in here plenty, but you're right. I may need to practice this one outside."

Ominis is holding several books and his translation quill is tucked safely behind his ear. "What is it you're working on? I could feel the heat practically from the doorway."

I'm a little proud at that statement. But it's not necessarily an exaggeration. I've shed more than a few layers and I'm still sweating. Even though Ominis can't see me, I feel strange wearing my white tunic and bloomers around him and opt to slide back into my school robes.

As I'm buttoning the green plaid trousers Sebastian calls from the door, he's looking between myself and Ominis with wild eyes. "What the devil's going on here?"

Ominis slouches into an overstuffed armchair pulling the quill from his ear. "Why so upset? She's working on some insanely large fire spell, and I made the mistake of thinking I could study in what feels like a boiler room."

Smiling sheepishly, I shrug into a matching green plaid vest over my white bishop sleeve blouse. Sweat making it stick to my arms, but it was still better than a full jacket.

I hadn't even realized how insufferably hot I'd made the Undercroft. Being so focused on the spell, I wanted to have it perfected for debut in the Crossed Wands tournament.

Ominis then sets his enchanted quill to the page and it begins writing on its own. Transcribing thoughts from his mind in frantic scratches.

I cast a few glacius enchantments on the scorched floor. The red hot stone returned to normal– with some black sooted blast marks– but the charm still helped the temperature in the room to drop to a manageable degree.

Sebastian looks at me coyly, crossing his arms as he leans against a nearby wall. "So go on. What is it then?"

I run my hands over my head, pushing the wispy hairs that have stuck to my forehead with sweat. I'm thankful the hair tonic wore off when Imelda said it would. But that doesn't explain the way Sebastian is looking at me now. Like if Ominis weren't here, we'd be having a totally different conversation. If a conversation at all.

I shrug a shoulder, lazily gesturing my wand in the air as I speak. "A couple of times I saw the Ashwinder duelists do some sort of fire tornado. Although, I can't get my spell powerful enough to actually start spinning. Plus, theirs were so tall it practically reached the top of the tree line."

"Hmm." Sebastian considered. "Perhaps it's something with fire and wind. If tornado is a push and pull, maybe it's a combination?" He waves his hand in wide circles as he suggests things, "like confringo , accio, depulso , with a twist? Literally speaking."

"All right then, you give it a go." I say, gesturing grandly to the area before us.

Sebastian's lips turn up at the corner and he remains relaxed against the wall. "No thanks. More fun to watch you try."

I give him an over exaggerated sneer and raise my arms again. Mustering as large as a confringo burst as I can, then quickly whip out a succession of accio and depulso on both sides of the flaming ball.

All I manage to do is whip the fireball back towards me then push it away again in a panic. I breathe a sigh of relief as the roiling embers smash into a pillar and die down. Leaving the stone red hot and charred, rather than my face.