Basil could still feel the fluttering of doxy wings against his intestines as he stared, stupidly at Lissington. His heart skipped a beat when the other stepped towards him. Was he going to do it again? Basil didn’t know if he was thrilled or aghast at the thought, but he swallowed a small lump in his throat and closed his mouth just in case. Evidently Lissington had no such intention however as he instead put his hands up in surrender as if to say ‘the spell made me do it’ and Basil blinked. Yes, the spell had made him do it. Or at least, it had made him do something and well, Lissing had chosen to do that. It was obvious what it meant, even to Basil. As the other’s face slowly began to fade into the color of his hair, Basil pivoted awkwardly and addressed the rest of the challenge. They were here on official business after all; as much as it might have felt like a fun time between - er - friends? It wasn’t. He stepped through into the next room and sucked in a breath as it came into view. Well this certainly needed all of his attention.
Lissington stated then that he’d borrowed the creatures in here - of which Basil could only see a handful so far - from the ministry. It was clever really. He remembered their first fiasco with a hinkypunk a few months ago and couldn’t help but bite his lip. Luckily, that was one spell Basil was still armed with as he began to make headway through the wet marsh underfoot. The soft, inviting glow of a lantern beckoned him and the brunette re-adjusted his grip on his wand. They were about halfway across the room when something reached out and grabbed Basil by the foot. Sticky tentacles tugged at his ankle, wrapping around it and suctioning into his pant leg. The brunette tugged back and blasted a Grindylow away from himself. It shrieked as it hit the water.
“Little boors,” he mumbled, more to himself than to Lissington. (Basil didn’t make a habit of cursing and he’d already blown through his quota for the month. He was trying to refrain from saying anything stronger as they finally made it across two hinkypunks and another grindylow later.) Standing triumphantly just before the exit, Basil turned towards Lissington with a half smile. “Well that could have been much worse,” he chuckled, hoping they could simply blow past the kiss. There was no need to rehash it, surely. Even if it did mean Lissington was aching to do about as much as Basil felt, all the time, too.