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Axel nestled comfortably into Kevin’s arms, his glasses had slid down his nose, Kevin was too warm to scoot away from, Axel wanted to be close to him. It did affect his reading abilities slightly, however Axel was ready to fail the exam if it meant being able to cuddle Kevin a little bit more.
“Ehh.”
“What’s the matter?”, Axel asked, putting his head in his neck for a better view. Kevin was quite beautiful like this. He was always, but Axel could appreciate him even more if his face got kissed by the dying sun.
“Can’t figure out the spell”, Kevin grunted.
Axel tossed the book aside without another thought. If Kevin asked for his attention, he was sure to deliver. To admire Kevin was more than a hobby of his, it was Axel’s full time job and whenever Axel did this, Kevin always looked at him with this hint of appreciation that was reserved for Axel and for Axel only.
“Where exactly are you struggling, dear?” The two of them had known each other their entire life. Had shared a dorm for half of it. They worked in absolute synch, Axel could read Kevin better than any book.
Kevin grimaced. “I need to work out how to get around the barrier of the energy level. There is more needed than the berry leaves provide.” Axel nodded, pretending to understand. He did, to some degree. Spell working wasn’t his main field of study and all the calculations Kevin was doing were quite intimidating. “I could expand the available resources by upping the doses but this messes with the bio-technical influence of the leaves, making the spell too strong.”
Axel looked at him. Replayed the words in his head. Usually if combining spells with plants (only needed to upgrade a spell, for some reason Kevin was really fond of this field) you needed to carry the exact amount needed at all times. Otherwise there would be ugly side effects.
“What if you use another additional plant that serves as a neutral energy provider?”
“Combining the leaves and… Neutral energy providers are hard to find, you know. They’re expensive and my professor won’t appreciate my upgrading if it’s inaccessible.”
“Are there plants with the same energy level but a lower bionic influence?”
Kevin blinked. The gears were rattling behind that beautiful forehead of his. “Actually… I’ll have to look at my encyclopedia. There might be… Daisies have a different kind of bionic influence that could still work but I have to go look at the values.”
“What are you even trying to do?”
“The green counter spell against amnesia is too weak…”
“Hence why you have to look up the value”, Axel grinned. He was the one able to rattle down values of waves, radiation and potion recipes without having to check anything, something that Kevin had always envied.
Kevin put his hand on Axel’s shoulder and pushed him to the side. “Hey, don’t go!” Axel pouted. But Kevin had already gotten up, papers with calculations fluttering to the floor. He was cold without Kevin. But Kevin was too determined, too ambitious. It suit him well. Very hot in fact.
Nibbling on his pencil, Kevin flicked through pages, skimmed over letters. Axel’s book was so forgotten, what had he even been reading?
“There it is”, Kevin’s face brightened, outshining the sun. “I’ll have to try with the jacobaea vulgaris. That could work but then I have to recalculate the influence of the—”
Axel stopped listening. He just stared at Kevin’s lips. He was so beautiful like that, when he was enthusiastic about things. Axel didn’t want it any other way. With or without the jacobaea vulgaris present.