Arson of the Heart

by Sasha L. Miller

  "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 p
lace. 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 wor
ds 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.