A fail safe, huh? He hadn’t actually considered that, but he supposed his first and second years be pleased to hear that Vermillious was useful outside of the classroom - the red sparks did indicate the need for help, after all. They'd complained the entire lesson of how useless it was and why in the world did they have to learn a spell like that? Well, now he had a real world example to tuck away from next year. Gus could cast the spell on some kind of object that could shoot high into the air to alert him that his presence was needed. A small crossed the redhead’s face as he nodded, scooting closer to Basil as they continued down the hallway. “Yeah,” he breathed out the response, whispering simply because Basil had been. “Thank you. I’ll think of something when we get out.”The fog thickened around them but Gus stepped forward with little fanfare. He did, after all, know the maze like the back of his hand from how many times he’d been in and out of it. The course, as it currently stood, was much like going through a cave or a tomb as a Curse Breaker. The weather constantly changed, the exits and entrances got turned upside down and sideways at times, and one never truly knew what to expect. Gus tended to groan when he heard a door shut behind him, but here, he at least knew what to expect at each turn. The fog had been a last minute addition - he didn’t want the room to be too easy, but a riddle telling them to use revelio seemed too difficult. It was meant to cause confusion, and he didn’t need both himself and the other professor out of commission if something were to happen, so, staying just slightly behind the other professor, Gus cast the bubble-head charm around himself. The fog couldn’t penetrate it.
As Basil worked on the letters, Gus took a moment to truly study him. His face was contorted into something akin to concentration, and then he scrunched his nose as the letters seemed to get the better of him. He was always cute, when he was concentrating. That was the first expression Gus had truly began to love, but it was the expression he saw most often their seventh year. The letters twisted and twirled into several combinations of words that didn’t exist. This puzzle would frustrate several of his students, but they had to know more than spells to truly master any defensive skill. He laughed at the other as he announced the first (well second, really) word. He nodded, although Gus didn’t say anything, watching with amusement as he worked on the other word. He chuckled - Odor Reveal sounded horrendous and the redhead wrinkled his nose in anticipation of something happening he wasn’t prepared for.
Basil casting revellum instead of revelio was not what he was expecting. Opening his mouth to tell him so, he promptly shut his mouth as gold sparks shot out of the wand that seemed to wrap themselves around him before he could even manage to duck. The spell seeped into his skin and then into his bones, a warm flooding into the pit of his stomach. Gus laid his hand across his it, his fingers tightening against the fabric of his robes. A surge of emotions filled him at once: anger, sadness, delight, fright… but they were all fleeting enough that it made his head pound. He groaned. A burst of emotion made him gasp, and he felt the sudden need for Basil overwhelm every sense. Gus rooted his feet, refusing to succumb to this spell - he didn’t need a spell to tell him how much he was in love, damn it!
The bubble around his head popped as the fog dissipated, and as Basil turned toward him with a lopsided grin, whatever control he had over himself vanished too. Stepping forward toward him, Gus tangled his hand in his shirt, cursing silently at how many layers this man wore!, and forced his back against the hedge. Then his lips were on Basil’s and his fingers trailed from his shirt to rest against his hips. It was hungry and desperate and he felt the emotions singing in his blood at finally having the opportunity to show Basil just how much he (still) loved him. The emotion was hard to contain, and every fiber of his being was on fire - he felt as if he'd perish if he didn't show him right here, right now. His fingers tightened against him.
But then moments later Gus was stumbling backward, staring at Basil with wide eyes as the surge of emotion left him, gold sparks spurting out of him and fizzingly out into nothing. He opened his mouth and then shut it. This wasn’t his fault.
![[Image: UkiVTG8.png]](https://i.imgur.com/UkiVTG8.png)