The sensation of Gus so close, so overwhelmingly all over him was still pulsing in Basil’s senses. He was right there, so ready and so willing and (with no need for build up or explanation) available to simply kiss again. Basil hated this thought almost as quickly as it had occurred. He shouldn’t need build up or explanation to want to kiss Lissing because he shouldn’t be feeling like this in the first place. A nasty little voice chittered in the back of his mind reminding him how unnatural, terrible, impossible all of this was and yet… here he was tangled up on the guest bed and feeling more content than he had in months. Years, even. A soft breath escaped the brunette as he searched the red-head’s expression for something, so sweet and so nervous. Basil could have kicked himself for making Gus look like that.

He knew he was being unfair. Basil knew all of this was going to send the most terrible array of mixed signals he’d ever managed. He was the one who had drawn lines in the sand; he was the one who had told Lissing that all of this was impossible. So why then was he so willing to revisit it? Atticus was right. Perhaps he was wading into dangerous territory. Reeling at the thought of his brother, Basil felt everything about the moment begin to fracture. His anxieties began to creep in, poison leaking into the crevices of his momentary happiness. It was rather lucky that this was the precise moment that his guardian angel decided to intervene.

The door to the room, never quite latched Basil realized with horror, moved to glide open with a squeak. There was nobody there that he could see over Lissing’s shoulder but after a beat of terrifying silence, there was a soft mewling sound and four tiny paws landed right atop them. Duchess, in all her splendid glory, wrapped her tail elegantly around her paws, sitting on Basil’s hip as she was, and looked down upon the two gentlemen with bright, discerning blue eyes. Blinking his own grey hues at her, Basil leaned back onto the pillow and let out an anxious breath he hadn’t realized he’d started to hold, or when. He then pulled away from Lissing just enough not to upset the pretty feline or stab the red-head with his wand as he pulled it from his waistcoat and shut the door with a quick flick. The lock clicked into place shortly thereafter.

Basil lay back and let his arm splay out onto the bed as he looked up at the cat and just past her to the ceiling beyond with a half smile. Well that was a close one. Duchess for her part opted to hop into the slightly exposed portion of the bed between them then and sniffed very aggressively at Gus’ face. It was almost like she was examining him, determining if he be worthy. Basil breathed a small chuckle as he turned to tuck his wand away, making room. “Don’t be rude,” the brunette mumbled, tugging his little feline closer and wrapping an arm around her. “Gus, meet Duchess,” he said then, warmly. “She is my… cat.” The last word landed with a little less tact than he’d meant but frankly, all of this pet-owning was still rather new to him.

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Gus Lissington / Diana Selwyn

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   Diana Selwyn

What a dreadfully boring day it had been!

Diana spent time with Basil at every opportunity, although today their respective preoccupations caused their interactions to be more like two passing ships in the night. She missed him over breakfast, when he made quite a fuss over something he read in the paper about an incident in Irvingly, and apparently had much to write about it. Why he bothered with a little sleepy hole of a village was beyond her, but she knew the brunette to be a wonderfully compassionate being, and so she left him to his business.

The absence of Mrs. Foxwood meant no early afternoon rendezvous in the lady’s sewing threads, or the usual bout of family and friends that paid calls well into the afternoon. Diana hoped she might recognize a face that strolled through those doors one day, and they might recognize her (even if a little smaller and fluffier than they remembered). But it seemed that faces coming through the door were only getting younger, like the redheaded fellow who arrived late in the day. She gleaned that the ginger was rendered temporarily homeless with the Irvingly incident, and even considered going to a dreaded inn. Basil's gracious offer of lodgings for the duration filled her with pride. It wasn’t as though she raised him or anything, but she felt territorial over him, and considered his success the same as hers.

‘What a very sweet offer to make, my dear,’ she purred to Basil as she wound between his legs. Frankly, if she’d been in his position with the estate to herself and a few friends, her mind would pursue a different set of impulses. But Basil was too innocent to be a rake, she knew. Though she wondered often when she might see a lively little debutante stroll through the door hanging off his arm. It wasn’t a far reach to wonder, then, what this would meant for her fate. Hopefully, said debutante would not be allergic to cats?

To stifle her existential crisis, Diana sought out teatime leftovers that lingered open in the kitchen for the servants to take. Ah, the little tuna salad sandwiches, her favorite! These were a paltry comfort, but it helped her settle into a long, leisurely nap in the sunroom. Once awake, Di found the home unnervingly dark and quiet. She prowled around the estate, skirting corners as she went from room to room. No Basil in the study, his typical haunt at this hour. No Basil in the bedroom, the most viable alternative. Where could he be?

“Meow?” she asked the house. With growing concern, she ran upstairs and swept past the rooms. “Mrrrowww?” she repeated, caving to the impulsive urge to dart back and forth down the halls several times. Finally, she bounded in front of a room that still had lights on. She heard noise inside, and assumed Basil’s guest was as bored as she. Supposing he could benefit from the company (or at the very least she might get a closer look at his physique), she tested the door with her two front paws and found it swung open with ease.

Well. This was peculiar. Basil was not missing. No… he took the role of entertaining his guest quite seriously, it seemed.

Unconsciously her tail swung up in an intrigued question-mark shape, bobbing as she ventured for a closer look. The closer look needed to happen on the bed – she couldn’t see anything from the floor in this blasted home of giants! “Mew mew,” she announced her imminent arrival like a lady, and defied gravity with a swift leap onto Basil.

Oh. The both of them were breathing rather heavily.

She sought a comfortable crook on Basil’s hip and stared at the improbable duo, expecting some explanation. Though Basil simply shifted and fussed over something, so Di hopped to the warm space on the bed between them to take the investigation upon herself. She had a good intuition for this sort of thing anyway. Nothing about the guest seemed harmful earlier, though of course this could be her own bias for handsome redheads. So the woman gave his face a good sniff, purring a bit despite herself when the smell she found there was Basil. Goodness!

The brunette mumbled something about being rude – why yes, his guest was being quite rude to not introduce himself to her – but she did not resist as Basil pulled her back. Upon his introduction of her as none other than Duchess, the cat, her tail gave Gus a good flick on the face. As though to say, ‘And you best not forget it.’

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Gus Lissington & Basil Foxwood

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   Basil Foxwood

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beautiful set by gin <3

Blinking at Foxwood, Gus wasn’t sure what to expect from him; the ball was in his court, and it would remain there. Trying to figure out where the man’s thoughts and feelings were proved to be an impossible feat - one moment he was sure this was it, this was his Basil from seventh year, the man he’d fallen in love with, and the next moment he wasn’t sure if he was going to be transfigured into a pebble so Basil could toss him into the Black Lake in hopes of never having to deal with him again. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for as he searched the other’s face, although the tiny voice in the back of his reminded him he was just waiting for the disgust that would inevitably cross his face.

Revolting.

Impossible.

What good do you bring to any situation, Mr. Lissington?

(The correct is nothing.)

Gus knew then, in that very moment, staying the night in this house wouldn’t be something he could do. He shifted back on the bed to pull himself away from Foxwood, although his body went rigid as the door creaked open. Blue eyes shifted toward it, and he held his breath as he waited for Atticus to burst through the door. Only a fluffy white cat came prancing through before  jumping onto the bed, and had Gus not felt his heart beating in his chest so rapidly he wasn’t sure his rib cage would hold it, he may have tossed his head back and laughed. Instead the redhead pressed his hand to his chest.

Basil locked the door as the cat was suddenly in his face, and he pulled in a sharp breath at the proximity, unsure if she was going to bite his nose off - he’d heard of such cats and Gus wouldn’t put it past the man to have found one by accident. Her tail flicked him in the face as she was pulled back and Gus scrunched his nose at the contact before he sat up on the bed and crossed his legs. He eyed them both nervously.

“I didn’t know you liked cats.” He murmured after a moment, his fingers hesitantly brushing against her fur before he curled them against the top of her head. He let his fingers absentmindedly scratch the top of he’d head. She was soft and Gus hummed happily. “She is very pretty. When did you get her?” He tried to recall Basil mentioning a new cat in his letters, but it wasn’t as if he’d poured over them; Gus wasn’t even sure he’d had the energy to read some of them the past few weeks. He pulled his hand back and twisted his fingers into his lap.

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Basil Foxwood / Diana Selwyn 

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   Diana Selwyn

Basil couldn’t help the genuine little chuckle that escaped him as Duchess flicked Gus in the nose and the pretty red-head scrunched his face in response. It was such a sweet moment that he couldn’t help the swelling feeling in his stomach. This was what Basil wanted, always and forever. Before the thought could fully register however, and alarm him, the brunette pressed his nose into the back of Duchess’ little white head. He gave her a gentle kiss before responding “I don’t really,” with a hum. “Chess is… special, I guess.” He watched then as Lissing scratched the top of her head and he resisted the urge to press a quick kiss against the other’s fingers, close as they were to his lips. (Maybe he was drunk…)

As Lissing pulled away with a little question, Basil sat up to mirror him (still pressed close) even as he maneuvered Duchess into his lap properly. He hummed a touch. “Mmm, perhaps a few weeks? Maybe at the beginning of the summer?” Honestly, it felt like he’d had her all his life some days and others he was surprised he even had a cat.

Basil had never been a… pet, or creature person, like Atticus. He tolerated Merlin because he was a means to an end. Sure they were friendly enough; he knew the little owl had his personality and Basil respected him— but he certainly wasn’t doting like Atticus. The only ‘pet’ the brunette had ever bothered entertaining was the lonely little hedgehog that sometimes wandered into his office and even Cecil - as he’d fondly dubbed the little beast - was more scientific colleague than pet. The number of evenings the two had spent in his office at Hogwarts pouring over notes together while sharing a scone were impossible to count and poor Cecil had been through his fair share of Transfiguration lectures. In fact, were Basil to ever discover the creature was in fact a human, he’d be willing to gamble that Cecil might be one of the most astute Transfiguration students Britain had seen yet!

Petting Duchess on the head fondly, Basil lifted her gently into Gus’ lap. They were silent a beat and he sucked in a deep breath. He didn’t really want to talk about what had just happened. It was… lovely, in its way, and if they talked about it Basil knew it would just taint the moment with some big, terrible expectation. An expectation he was not ready to face head-on and refuse again. Not now. Not when things were finally going… well. He resisted the urge to worry his lower lip and instead, knocking shoulders with Lissing playfully, he offered the red-head a lopsided little grin. “I was serious about tying you to that tree you know,” Basil teased. “I’ll tell Headmaster Black you’re ill and leave you up there for days until you promise not to dive off the side in some ridiculous parlour trick.”

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Gus Lissington / Diana Selwyn

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   Diana Selwyn

The fact that Basil didn’t like cats was news to her, but between the ginger’s head scratches and their idle conversation, no one noticed her indignant glower in his direction. But of course, she’s special. Not that her pseudo-son seemed to have any inkling as to why. Though it explains a lot - does he really think a normal cat takes its delicate little poops in private on a proper chamber pot? Well. Since she’d never allowed him to catch her doing it, she supposed not.

Diana did not protest as she was lifted gently from Basil’s lap to Gus’s, having grown thoroughly used to the feeling of being manhandled. Though once in his lap she turned to get comfortable, winding her way around so she might lay on her back a bit like a baby. This offered the best viewpoint, anyway, for her big blue eyes to curiously go back and forth between these two men as they spoke.

Goodness gracious - tying to a tree?! This was a rather deviant side to her typically bookish darling that she never anticipated seeing, much less accompanied by that cheeky grin. The way they leaned towards one another made it very obvious that this was stated in jest more than threat, and her big fluffy tail beat thoughtfully against Gus’s arm as she squirmed to see his response.

She did not need to know the whole story - she didn’t even need to know half of it. If her hunch was right, she could see it validated in his expression now. Years of experience taught her how to spot this sort of thing a mile away. And if she was right, it might also explain why such a handsome boy such as hers has never mentioned a lady of interest to his brother, much less come through the doors of the estate with a lass lingering on his arm. Or why she is quite certain she’d never seen her dear Basil smile and laugh so easily as he did now. This feeling is not something conjured merely by alcohol or other substances, it does not take root when nothing nourishes it. This is something more.

Instinct tickled her nose, and made her ears twitch. Her heart beat faster as realization set in.

‘Oh dear. Oh, my darling boys. Oh, you two are very much in love.’

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   Basil Foxwood

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beautiful set by gin <3

Nodding at his words, Gus managed to smile softly at him; his eyes were getting heavier the longer they remained on the bed, and Gus shifted to lean his head against the headboard, watching with interest as the man before him doted on the cat in a way he hadn’t ever seen him do before with anything. “It’s been a long summer so far, hasn’t it?” He hummed faintly. It wasn’t something he expected an answer on, nor was it something he wanted to actually discuss - all Gus knew was the last few weeks had been harrowing and he wasn’t sure he was going to survive August and even if he did he was going to be in survival mode once the school year hit.

This was the life he chose and it was difficult for him to adjust to things that were familiar but vastly different rolled into one; a decade would do that to things, and Gus had never been one who readily asked for help when it came to life (or well, anything); he’d been the one to leave his friends and he’d been the one to cut off contact with the few who wanted to keep in touch. He made his decision and either drowned in them as he desperately tried to keep himself afloat or was triumphant that he’d made the correct one; more often than not it was the former, but that was what happened when he acted without first thinking of the consequences. Another year at Hogwarts would weigh on his soul and the thought of not being good enough would sit in the forefront of his mind every waking moment. But it was worth it in the end, just to be able to reconnect with Basil.

(Oh, what he wouldn’t give for him. It was going to kill him in the end.) 

But those were thoughts lost in his head, locked tightly away in a place he didn’t like to touch. His fingers absentmindedly threaded through Duchess’ fur as she curled against him, and he blinked down at her before he smiled. He could feel her tail against her arm, but he didn’t move it as he laughed, although it was laced with a sleepiness that was curling itself around him. He glanced up at Foxwood as he knocked shoulders. “I’d love to see you try, Foxwood.” He leaned forward as he mirrored the man’s grin before he shifted closer to Basil to drop his head against his shoulder, careful not to jostle Duchess too much in the process as she squirmed in arms, before twisting his head to hide a yawn. It was an uncomfortable position and his neck was going to hurt in the morning, but Gus was too content to move.

“Plus, it’s not a parlor trick!” He yawned again and his eyes drifted shut as the last few days finally caught up to him. “It’s… an experiment.” He wanted to tell him he was fearless, that the worst that could happen to him was he got wet, that he defied the impossible on several occasions and somehow came out alive in the end, but they were heavy on his tongue. Instead he mumbled “I’m invincible” incoherently against his shoulder, because at this exact moment he believed he was.

A silence settled around them and it didn’t take long for sleep to claim him.

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Basil Foxwood / Diana Selwyn 

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   Basil Foxwood, Diana Selwyn

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As the two of them settled against the headboard with Duchess, Basil felt that fond little smile flicker across his face again. Lissing’s sleepy mumbles were endearing, if not confidence boosting. He knew this conversation wasn’t over, it never really would be, but Basil supposed he trusted the redhead enough not to go diving over the side of the cliff. Most days. It was something that though yes, was a shared joke between them, actually hit the brunette rather squarely in the chest. There were days when Basil didn’t have the strength to fight the pressure, and the side of that very cliff looked more enticing than he was willing to admit. The very reminder of those thoughts now made him nauseous. In this safe little space, with Lissing’s soft hair brushing against his cheek as the other nodded off there was just something so easy and precious about life. Something Basil wasn’t particularly willing to give up.

He must have nodded off too at some point because the next thing Basil knew he was blinking awake with the warmth of a human body beside him. Lissington had shifted off his shoulder and Basil must have moved to curl around the other at some point because he now found his arm draped over the other’s side. Lifting it slowly, reluctantly, Basil felt a pounding in his temples. Bloody… How much had he drank last night? His mouth was dry and tasted of bitterness, so evidently enough to feel ill. Basil sat up on the bed and ran a hand over his face and through his hair. Beside him, everything was very still. The fire must have petered out and the houseelves hadn’t intruded to reignite it, thankfully. Basil let out a soft breath into the calm stillness.

This was a moment he wanted to wrap up and keep forever. He took a mental snapshot of Lissginton curled around Duchess, both of them cuddled up in a precious little pile. Then, easing himself off the bed so as to not make a fuss, Basil stood. It must have been rather early morning yet as the sun was only just beginning to rise and the blue light cast into the room from the window was still dark. Idly, the brunette wondered what Lissingotn’s morning habits were and it occurred to him that for the first time, ever, he had the opportunity to actually find out. The thought was… alarming in its way, and Basil felt himself blush. No, better he not linger. It wasn’t gentlemanly of him.

With a quick flick of his wand, the brunette settled a small piece of parchment on the nightstand beside his guest. Then, with one last fond look in the red-head’s direction, he turned to vacate.

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Gus Lissington / Diana Selwyn

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Please stay.

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   Diana Selwyn, Gus Lissington