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It was the coldest day of the winter so far. The roofs and gardens of Alfea were covered with a thick layer of snow, it was beautiful to watch, magical almost, how little snowflakes were dancing through the air and slowly, silently floating to the ground. Still, most of the fairies and specialists preferred to stay inside if possible due to the bone-chilling cold. Only occasionally a few water and fire fairies could be seen outside having snowball fights.
That was until the moment someone decided that now was the right time to let the specialists do this stupid deployment training. It was sub-zero, goddamn.
Sebastian, who had been sitting in the warmth with a cup of tea, only put on his specialist uniform grumbling. Who had come up with that again?
When he finally got outside, most of the specialists were already there. Amid the crowd, he was able to spot Saul. His hands flew as he gestured wildly to a group of younger specialists who seemed to be hanging on his every word. But who could blame them? He was one of Alfea's model specialists. He was superior to most everyone both in combat and in wits, still stayed humble and friendly, was tall and handsome... and had those magnetic, icy-blue eyes. As he turned and caught Sebastian's gaze they sparkled with amusement. He waved him over, making his heart skip an excited beat, as he always did. Sebastian did his best not to let it show.
When he got to Saul, he wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.
"What are we doing out here? Does the school board want to produce an army of specialist icicles?"
Saul just laughed and replied in his teacher's manner that he sometimes used to strike, "A little snow won't stop the Burned Ones, so we should be ready, too."
Although Sebastian was far too cold and he was actually in a bad mood, he couldn't help but smile back, Saul's laughter was far too infectious.
"Yeah, but the Burned Ones are literally ovens on two legs," his face crumpled at the thought of an oven which Saul seemed to think funny, "Can't say that about ourselves, can we?"
"So, you wouldn't call me hot? I'm offended," Saul joked.
Oh dear lord. Had Sebastian already mentioned that he was absolutely smitten with this guy? But since he was only a friend to Saul, he laughed it off, as always, and tried to keep the blush down that threatened to creep onto his cheeks.
Joking with Saul seemed to make the cold a little more bearable. In fact, it seemed to make everything here a little more bearable. All except for one thing.
Over Saul's shoulder, he could see the crowd parting. Through the resulting passage strode Andreas. A specialist equally as talented as Saul, but a stuck-up asshole, if one were to ask Sebastian. Nevertheless, Saul and him were such good friends that Saul was also jokingly referred to as Andreas' better half among the rest of the students. For his part, he couldn't understand how anyone could be friends with someone like Andreas. He was a textbook example of a bully and let Sebastian feel that again and again.
So, before Andreas could spot him, Sebastian excused himself and got away.
At the beginning, the exercise went surprisingly smooth. In groups of two, they were presented with simulations of a Burned One and were supposed to fight them. Sebastian was partnered with a girl he thought was a year younger than himself. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a determined look on her face. She was obviously the better fighter of the two, but she did not make any disparaging remarks about him when he almost slipped in the snow or wielded his sword in a clumsy way due to his fingers freezing over, or just general ineptitude. So, today was one of the better days, he thought.
Of course, they didn't manage to defeat their Burned One. But hardly anyone here had managed that yet anyway. Except, of course, for Saul and Andreas. He cast a furtive glance in their direction. Although they'd already successfully overcome their simulated opponent, they continued to train. The elegance with which they both wielded their swords was distinctive. Their movements were always precise and purposeful. He hated to admit it, but when Andreas just shut up and fought, Sebastian could almost understand all the admiration he got. As for Saul... Sebastian sometimes caught himself holding his breath when he watched him fight. His movements flowed like water, he seemed completely absorbed in concentration, beautiful and deadly.
The two had come within two meters of Sebastian and his partner in the fight. He was almost about to back away and make room for them when he heard a crackling sound in the adjacent undergrowth. His head flew around at the exact moment something burst out of the snow between the trees and bushes. A wave of heat hit him, almost unreal, as a Burned One shot towards them. It took him only a split second to realize that the simulations were not radiating heat and that something was very wrong here.
Shit, that one was real. And it was headed for Saul. His legs moved without his doing, and he had his sword drawn before he could think of anything. Suddenly he found himself between Saul and the Burned One.
"Watch out," he yelled, a moment before the beast met his sword. The force of the collision instantly made his arms go numb. As he was already completely exhausted from fighting the simulation, it took only a few seconds for a slash from the Burned One to break his stance and send him flying. The impact on the ground was barely cushioned by the snow. He felt all the air being squeezed out of his lungs as he rolled uncontrollably, and his head hit something hard. Lightning flashed before his eyes. He was fighting for consciousness for a moment until he saw Saul's figure standing over him in a defensive posture, his back turned. Then his eyes closed, and he gave in to the irresistible pull of unconsciousness and let himself be enveloped in a thick blanket of darkness.
The first thing he felt when waking up was a splitting headache. Sebastian blinked his eyes open. God, it was too fucking bright here, the light felt like it was drilling its way through his head. Still, he managed to look around. He lay on a kind of hospital bed in the greenhouse. It was comfortably warm. Slowly, he remembered what had happened. He'd thrown himself completely headlong in front of a Burned One to save Saul. He shot up to a sitting position, though his head and limbs protested terribly. Shit, did that thing get him? Did it scratch him? But when he looked down at himself, he saw no wounds, just a sweater that didn't belong to him. He stared at it and breathed in a strangely familiar scent.
"Oh, you're awake."
Sebastian was startled by the voice. When he turned his head, he winced in pain.
"You should stay down for a bit, you took quite a beating."
Saul approached his bed and gently pushed him back into a lying position, making Sebastian's breath hitch. Had he been waiting by his bedside?
"What happened?" Sebastian wanted to know.
"It seems that a Burned One breached the school's barrier. Andreas and I held it back until we got reinforcements. At some point, headmistress Hale joined in the fight, and we defeated it."
"Uh, thanks for saving me, I guess," Sebastian averted his gaze, looked down at the unknown, dark blue sweater and again a wave of that familiar scent hit him. It was very much pleasant, he thought, but he still couldn't quite place it.
"I should be thanking you, you reckless idiot," Saul chuckled, then he got serious again, "If you hadn't gotten in the way of it first, it would have taken me by surprise... I wouldn't have stood a chance."
"You're welcome, let me know if you ever need another one of those skillful, elegant rescues from me."
That earned him a big grin from Saul.
"Thank you very much, but I'd rather you didn't let a Burned One beat you up again anytime soon. This time you were lucky and got away without a scratch from that thing. But you know how worried I was until we'd defeated it, and I could bring you here to Harvey and we found you had nothing but a concussion and a ton of bruises?" he admitted and took a deep breath before going on, "You were ice cold, pale as death and your uniform was completely torn. Don't you do that again."
Sebastian saw his gaze wander lower and linger on the sweater.
"But I have to say, my sweater looks great on you," Saul added with a little smirk.
"Your...?"
Sebastian's eyes widened. He felt warmth rise to his face. All at once his skin felt hypersensitive and he was all aware of the soft material against his body. He also realized what that scent was. It was a part laundry detergent, a tinge of a heady cologne and the rest was just... Saul.
Oh god. That realization thoroughly threw him off track and left him utterly helpless, struggling for words. But before Saul could tease him about his baffled expression, the greenhouse door opened, and Farah entered. Immediately Saul's attention was focused on her; Sebastian could clearly see Saul's face light up and his affection reflected in his eyes. He felt an uncomfortable feeling stir in his stomach.
"Here you are," Farah greeted Saul with a hug before turning to him, "Sebastian, how are you? I heard about what happened."
"I'll be alright. I'm tougher than I look," he replied although suddenly he felt a lot more drained and sick.
She smiled at him kindly, "Good to hear that."
He would have rather she'd hit him. How could one not like her? His gaze fell upon Saul who still smiled at her as she went on speaking.
"Saul, Rosalind called us both in for some extra training. We've got to go."
Saul sighed, "Think that was to be expected after what happened."
For the first time since Farah had entered the room, Saul's eyes broke away from her and he turned to Sebastian.
"I'll stop by again later if Rosalind doesn't completely break us."
Sebastian only nodded and waved him goodbye. He wished he could keep Saul with him for a little while longer, just to talk about God and the world and laugh about their silly jokes together, but he lay still and watched as Saul held the door for Farah and the two of them disappeared from the greenhouse.