Utterly Enchanting [MxM] (Complete)

Part Two

Ever since he first caught himself staring at Vespertine and he began realizing the truth of his affection for the other man, Leander had wondered what it might be like to kiss him. He'd always struggled to imagine the necromancer in so intimate a moment; if Vespertine had admitted he'd never considered so much as embracing another living soul, it wouldn't have particularly surprised him. Tenderness and romance seemed like they would be utterly at odds with Vespertine's lofty distance and critical stares. It had felt almost invasive to wonder, and even more so to imagine and desire such a moment.

It was for all these reasons that Leander sat there, stunned beyond thought or reason as Vespertine kissed him. The necromancer's touch was cool but gentle, and his fingers in Leander's hair seemed to tighten their grip in a moment of unapologetic need.

"I don't bite," Vespertine whispered to him with a smile in his voice. "You can kiss me back, you know."

The utter wrongness in hearing the necromancer flirt with him was what finally shocked Leander back into action. He quickly untangled himself from the other man's arms and scrambled to his feet.

"You were hit with the spell!"

"We both were," Vespertine reminded him. "I seem to recall both of us being knocked flat."

"No, no, I mean you were hit by it. You're enchanted. I enchanted you. Oh gods, I've ensorcelled Vespertine the Profaner."

"Is that really what they're calling me these days? Why do all the other master sorcerers get better titles?" He muttered before nodding his head in understanding. "Right, right, the abominations..."

"Focus, Vespertine! We need to fix this!"

"Do we really?" The necromancer asked, propping himself up with one arm as he reclined on the floor. "I'm feeling better than I have in months. I think I'd much rather you just come back down here and pick up where we left off."

"That's exactly why we need to fix this! What if the Council sees you like this?"

"Maybe they'd just think we fell deeply in love after so much time together?"

Leander stared at him. "Would you have believed that, an hour ago?"

The necromancer seemed to mull it over. "No, but—"

"But nothing! They're going to know something is wrong, and they're going to bar me from the Academy once and for all! Please, Vespertine, we have to fix this."

"I really don't want to," Vespertine insisted as Leander hauled him to his feet. "I really prefer this to how it was before. Don't you?"

Leader grimaced as the necromancer's arms wrapped around him, trapping him in a tight embrace. "It doesn't matter. This isn't right."

"It feels right, doesn't it? All those nights by the fire, all those long afternoons spent together here in your study... you liked having me close. I can see that now." Vespertine kissed his brow. "Now you can have me closer."

"No!" Leander pried himself free before the necromancer's hands could start wandering. "Don't make me put you in the homunculus cage."

"I'm too tall for the homunculus cage."

"I'd give you a pillow to sit on. It's that or you behave yourself while I figure out how to reverse this."

"That may be difficult," Vespertine told him, pointing past his head to the desk.

Leander turned to follow his gaze, and his heart sank. His grandmother's grimoire was in burned tatters, torn apart by the surge of flame and the blast that followed. He rushed to inspect the pieces, but they were ruined beyond recognition.