Practice Makes Perfect

[Rasmus Mohr]

Raz had been looking forward to his next tutoring session with Robert MacFusty. The other boy really was nice to look at, and even better to kiss. When the door opened to admit Robert, Rasmus couldn't help but smile invitingly at the other boy. He was glad when the door shut behind him.

"Study first," he said a little too warmly. "I'm going to make you earn your kisses today."

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Roberts stomach did an involuntary clench when the door shut behind him and Rasmus brought forward the subject of kissing. His ears felt hot and he nodded mutely. The notion of earning kisses was exiting. Too exiting, he should think.

He had been reviewing his last lesson with scepticism over the course of the last week. To the best of his knowledge; boys didn't usually go around kissing other boys. Not like the way Rasmus had kissed him or he had kissed Rasmus. Some boys kissed girls, while others just wished they could. He was neither of those. For the better part of the week, he had been imagining kissing the older boy frequently, wondering if it was wrong, thinking about it, doing it – liking it. He had decided he didn't know and didn't care. Usually when things weren't mentioned, it meant they were bad in some respect. It didn't stop most people. You just had to be quiet about it. Just like the times he had seen unmarried girls, boys, women, men dissappear hand in hand with each other back at home. Something happened between them, but he had learnt to stay quiet

And he was quiet now. He sat down his satchel, shrugged out of his jacket and refrained from looking too much at Rasmus. ”What are we practicing today?”

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

Deciding to get comfortable, too, Rasmus shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair, and then unbuttoned his waistcoat and loosened his tie.

"I thought we'd work on cheering charms again, since we got a little sidetracked last time," Raz suggested, his voice just a touch too warm for a casual conversation about charms. "Try not to make me utterly giddy again, or I doubt we'll get anything done this time either."

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Cheering charms; oh for all things unholy. Robert glared at Rasmus, casually mentioning how well it had gone last time. ”That's really unfair,” he groaned, wrinkling his nose, before rolling his eyes and letting go of a sigh.

”Fine. You stand there...” He moved backwards, creating a very sensible amount of distance between them, while fleeting images of Rasmus grinning stupidly went through his head. ”I'll be here, trying not to blow you up or set something on fire.” He was muttering, mainly to himself, as he rummaged the inside of a pocket, only to withdraw the holly wand.

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

"I'm sure you won't," Raz said casually. Okay, so maybe he was a little worried about it. More about the setting on fire part than the blowing up part, although he had heard of people who just consistently blew things up. At least Robert didn't seem to be that sort.

Somewhat less dressed than he had been when he came into the room, Rasmus took the position Robert had indicated. He still looked perfectly decent, at least, if anyone decided to check on them right then.

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Robert already had a hard time focusing with Rasmus just being there. It didn't help that he had to perform a cheering charm again. He hadn't given that side of the last lesson much thought since and his actual lessons in charms had moved on, leaving him trailing behind, stumbling most of the time.

Now was the time to stop thinking about kissing the older boy. Really. Stop thinking about anything else than the way he had felt when he had managed to make him smile.

He took a deep breath, pointed the end of his wand at Rasmus and whispered the incantation. A few sparks flew, but nothing happened. Again he did it, driving his thoughts away from lips brushing against lips... Such a challenge.

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

The charm worked better than the last session, but it wasn't perfect. "Good," Rasmus said in a mildly better mood than moments before. Not, of course, that he had been in a bad mood. Really when you were happy was not the best time to test cheering charms ...

"I should get myself really grumpy before you try again. So that we get a better idea of how well they're working."

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Robert felt a tiny bit pleased with himself. He straightened up and even managed to roll his eyes at Rasmus' suggestion. A moment later, however, he tilted his head a little to one side and considered it. "Hmm," he exhaled, tipping his head from one side to the other. "Alright. Fine. Tell me why you like kissing boys, when it's obviously a very wrong thing to be doing. Disgusting, even."

He raised his eyebrows a little, slight amusement gone from his expression. He wasn't sure how good of an actor he was, if he was actually acting or if it even mattered in this case.

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

Raz chuckled, a low and slightly throaty sound. "You're going to have to do better than that. I don't care what people think about it. It's exhilarating. It makes everything faster and slower all at once. I only hide it because I'm not an idiot, but it's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of."

Really, trying to get a half-veela embarrassed about anything like that was just silly. Not, of course, that Robert knew Raz was half-veela, but there were rumors. Rasmus didn't add that it was rather thrilling to have to rely only on being charming and attractive, and not on his magical charms.

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Robert frowned. He felt a slight pang of annoyance and crossed his arms, regarding Rasmus for a moment or two, before he broke the intermediate silence. "You should care what people think - which you obviously do as well. It's idiocy to claim caring about one's reputation and one's social future are different things. I'm pretty sure you're not an idiot, but I've been wrong before."

He had an odd sensation going through him, while his ears felt a bit hot. He shouldn't even be discussing this subject. What was the subject? Kissing other boys? Not kissing girls? Being a smug prat about it? He wasn't sure and it felt absurd. Yet... Rasmus had suggested getting him in a bad mood.

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

With a roll of his eyes, Rasmus retorted, "That's why I keep it a secret, MacFusty. Reputation, social future -- I don't exactly have an inheritance coming. My social future is all that I have to work with."

Of course, Raz sort of played a bit fast and loose with his reputation, but he relied on the fact that it would be as bad or worse for the people he did that with to keep them quiet. He still wasn't quite sure how Trixie had gotten caught but not him ... maybe because he was facing the building?

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Robert equally rolled his eyes. "You're not going to be able to keep it a secret forever, though. Not if you keep at it." He wasn't entirely sure this was true. He had a vague hope it wasn't. If he had to start fancying girls, life would surely become theatrical.

"At some point, you'll try something with someone who doesn't appreciate that attention and he'll talk. You can't charm yourself out of every sort of incident. It's a real risk."

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

It was harder to charm himself out of anything where males were concerned. With girls it was easy, he could charm them into or out of anything. With boys, though ...

His temper flared; he didn't want that sort of thing pointed out to him. "Yeah? Well what about you -- gonna give it all up because of your reputation?"

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Robert wasn't sure what was happening. He'd been trying to aggrovate Rasmus and somehow it had worked. In the proces, though... He was pretty serious in his accusations. Life wasn't always fun and games and people could potentially find out. Moreover - maybe it wasn't right doing something thought of as so wrong. Nevermind how incredibly right it felt.

He frowned, backing away even further and held his hands up. "Give it all up? Give what up, exactly? I mean I'm not experienced, obviously, but I'm pretty sure whatever it was we did is pretty much the same between a man and a... Woman." He was lying, but nevermind that. The thought of kissing a girl made him feel slightly sick. He was proving a point. Sort of. "And anyway... I should be practicing."

  

[Rasmus Mohr]

Raz snorted. "Hardly. It's definitely not the same." He stepped forward, anger warring with attraction in the pit of his stomach. Stepping forward, Rasmus reached out to stroke Robert's cheek. "Girls feel different. They smell different. They kiss differently. It's not the same experience at all."

Leaning in, Rasmus kissed Robert hard, his hand tangling briefly in the other boy's hair before he ended the brief kiss. "It's entirely different, kissing girls."

  

[Robert MacFusty]

Robert protested slightly against Rasmus, overwhelmed and annoyed. He stepped backwards once there was a little room between their lips again and made a face. ”I don't care, Rasmus. You're being far too casual about this.”

He ignored the pleasant taste of the older boy's kiss on his lips and wrinkled his nose a little. ”If you were a girl, you'd be the loosest one I've ever heard off.”