It was unlikely they were going to find any books on how to kiss girls well, at least within the confines of the Hogwarts library. If anyone would know of a book on the subject maybe it would be Desi; he was older and wiser than Morgan and in theory might know some of these things, though they'd never talked about it explicitly. Morgan also wasn't sure he entirely trusted Desi to tell him the truth and not tease him for asking. Morgan didn't know if other boys his age really had done anything with girls or whether they were all only lying and pretending, but if Morgan was behind in this regard he didn't want to advertise the fact to his older brother. He wanted Desi to think he was popular and cool and mature enough to hang around with his friends.

Practice, though — there was an idea Morgan had never considered. It made a certain kind of sense. Practice was how people got better at magic, or any other practice skill; it would probably be a better way to learn than trying to read about it in a book or get the information out of his older brother. Of course, there was the obvious barrier to that: Morgan might not have had a wealth of experience with girls, but he knew enough about flirting to know that asking a girl if she wanted to kiss you for practice was not likely to go over well. Besides, even if he found a girl who didn't care about her reputation, getting her alone enough to practice was still an obstacle. If he'd had some close female friends, maybe he could have managed it with one of them, if he was in the habit of finding himself doing nothing but sitting and talking with a girl the same way he was talking with Basil now. Morgan didn't have any female friends that were as close as Basil, though — actually, he didn't have any friends that were as close as Basil, period.

He tilted his head the other direction and looked at Basil for a second. "You're probably right," he agreed. "It's probably not as hard as it sounds, if everyone keeps doing it." Then again, everyone took classes and read textbooks, and Morgan knew getting information he'd read to stick in his brain was harder for him than it was for other people. He could do it now, since he knew how to take notes and how to study, but it had taken him years to actually be good at it. What if kissing was the same way — something that came naturally to everyone else, but that he was bound to be terrible at? His early years at Hogwarts had been a bit strained. He was not particularly keen on a repeat of the feeling when it came to romance.

"Still," he started, then shrugged instead of continuing. He knew what was on his mind but had the same feeling of vulnerability about it as he had before admitting he wasn't sure what to do with girls. What if he brought it up and Basil laughed at him? Not that Basil ever had laughed at him... if there was anyone to make this suggestion to, it would be Basil. Basil was the safest confidante he had, even better than his siblings. Maybe this would work, but if it didn't at least Morgan could be reasonably certain the failed attempt wouldn't leave the astronomy tower. Do or die, then.

"We could practice," he suggested. He tried to sound nonchalant about it and failed. "With each other. It's probably not so different from kissing a girl. And then we'd know how to do it and it would take some of the pressure off when it happens for the first time."

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   Basil Foxwood

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At Eldritch’s reply, Basil couldn’t help but nod solemnly. Well, he supposed, that was that. They were both going to suck at kissing and very likely there was nothing either of them could do about it. What a travesty.

Basil tried to think of another topic that might be less… inevitable, at least for Nee since it seemed the other was doing some rather hard thinking on the topic (from the look on his face). Basil felt a small pang for his friend. He supposed his own resignation came from years of being told he’d never amount to much from one’s father and living in the shadow of a Golden brother, but Nee didn’t have that problem. Maybe they should talk about Quidditch instead? That was always a safe topic, even if he didn’t have much to contribute to it.

Just as he was about to bring up Ravenclaw’s chances against Slytherin next month, the word ‘still’ dropped from Eldritch’s vocals and Basil realized the conversation was not, in fact, over. He furrowed his brows and sat up a little straighter. Still? “Still, what,” pray tell, he urged, gently. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

Nee’s following suggestion then rocked Basil to the centre, enough to make the Ravenclaw splutter a little bit. “E-er-hm?!” Instantly a furious blush stole across his cheeks highlighting freckles in places Basil didn’t even know he’d had like little beacons in the darkness. His collar grew hot and he curled his legs in, folding them and thinking furiously. What a crazy suggestion! Eldritch had to know how… how ridiculous it sounded, right? They couldn’t possibly! What if… what if someone found out? Or worse, what if someone caught them?! It was bad enough to kiss a girl in private, but Nee? (Not that he hadn’t… imagined it before, but still!)

The beginnings of the darkness that constricted his chest touched at the corners of his mind and Basil willed it back.

Alright Basil, he thought to himself. Calm down. Think logically through this. Perhaps Nee had a point here. The likelihood of ever finding another chance to practice that actually involved another human being - muggle, witch, wizard, or being alike - was slim to none and, on the very slight chance it did ever arise again, not offending said… person would be near to impossible. On the inverse, if he didn’t practice when given the opportunity - it could be considered neglect of his studies and then, obviously, failure in the future when he had to actually kiss someone for real - would be inevitable. He could be preventing his own failure here! Maybe Nee was thinking more clearly about this than Basil himself.

Uncrossing his legs, Basil leaned forward a little bit. “I-I don’t disagree that… that your suggestion remedies our current predicament at having” no clue whatsoever “little experience in the matter. But… are you sure we ought?” Basil’s face had pinched into a frown. “I hold the deepest, possible affection for you, Nee, you know that,” he continued. “But…” but this is something else entirely …or is it? The little voice poking at the back of Basil’s mind made him frown harder.

The Ravenclaw had decidedly never dared confront the slightly unusual sentiments he held for… well, other boys. He knew there might be something irregular in them considering none of the others their age ever mentioned one another, only girls, but he also didn’t think it was so highly unusual that he had to waste mental capacity thinking on the matter. Tonight was only a blip, a small rattling of the box he’d shuttered away under lock and key, only to be dusted off in the future - if ever relevant.

Sitting back up, the boy shook his head. “You know what, no.” he corrected. “You’re right. This is the best way for us to… to experiment! We can test our hypothesis on what works and what doesn’t, and then we won’t look like complete fools when we have to try again!” He gave a decisive nod and then grinned lopsidedly at Eldritch. Besides, who better to walk him through what was decidedly one of the most important discoveries of their lives than his best friend? Nobody.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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The look on Basil's face was like a punch to the gut. Morgan started to pull his foot back when he saw it, but Basil was already doing the same and broke contact first. It felt as though something in the air changed the moment they stopped touching each other; the moment where Morgan had felt confident enough to bring this whole thing up in the first place was gone. He didn't know why he'd thought this might work out in his favor; all he'd done by making the suggestion was ruin an otherwise good evening. He was probably right that Basil would keep this to himself, but even so, it could impact their relationship moving forward. What if he'd just ruined his closest friendship? Over some stupid idea about maybe getting to kiss a girl sometime in the future?

Morgan pulled his knees up to his chest and looked down at the floor, bracing himself for the worst. Basil was being unnecessarily verbose; he did that when he was nervous. Eldritch felt his cheeks getting warmer. By the time Basil got to but he was about ready to cut his losses and run. He was just trying to figure out how to phrase his goodbye for the evening to try and salvage as much dignity as possible; he'd already decided it was a lost cause. Then Basil seemed to change his mind. Morgan glanced up at him, unsure how to take this. His first instinct was not to trust it. Was Basil deeply uncomfortable with the idea, as he'd at first seemed, and was only saying otherwise in an effort not to disappoint Morgan? It wasn't the most far-fetched thing, but if that was the case Nee wanted no part in it. The idea of Basil putting himself through something unpleasant for his sake was absolutely odious.

"We don't have to," he insisted, hugging his knees to his chest a little more. "It was just a stupid idea."

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---

Too wrapped up in his own confusion and selfishness, Basil had failed to notice the look that crossed Eldritch’s face as he verbally vomitted all over the Astronomy classroom. His words were still bouncing around in his own head, a cacophony of doubts and confusion, as he looked to his friend at last. Nee had pulled in on himself and the tone in his voice was dejected. At once everything in Basil stilled.

“No!” he exclaimed, maybe too quickly. Clearing his throat, Basil tried again. “No, it was not a stupid idea,” he amended. Scooting closer, he moved to sit side by side with Nee, pressing his arm against his friend in what he hoped was an acceptable apology. “You know me. I just… tend to overthink, well, everything,” he said softly. And it was true; if anyone knew this about him it was definitely Eldritch. He was the type of person to overthink an answer in class even if the professor had already confirmed he was correct. (That had happened this week, in fact. In potions.) Taking a deep breath, Basil turned fully to face his best friend.

“I think we should do it,” he whispered. It was the right thing to do, Basil could feel it. Maybe his assertion came in part from the muddled champagne that was still flowing through his blood, but it just… seemed like the right conclusion to their predicament. And, if the Ravenclaw let himself think about it freely, he really wasn’t opposed at all.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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Morgan would still have insisted they forget the whole thing, up until Basil moved over and leaned his arm against Morgan's. Having the contact again was comforting, because it felt like even if this had been a mistake at least it hadn't hurt things too irreparably. They were still fast friends, still Basil and Nee. That made him feel a little more conflicted about the protests, but it wasn't until Basil's last comment that his mind was actually changed. His tone was so quiet and sincere that it was impossible for Morgan to think he was only agreeing out of a sense of loyalty, and with him already sitting this close there was no question of misinterpreting his expression or the look in his eyes.

Morgan's skin prickled with nervous excitement. "Okay," he said, and then realized: oh, this was it. This was the moment he'd been talking about earlier, where he didn't know what happened next. How did people start kissing? Did they say something, or touch each other?

"We could take turns," Morgan said quickly. He was trying to mask his momentary panic with more logistics. "So we both get a chance to try it. Do you want to, ah, start as the boy or the girl?" Morgan presumed there were different roles for men and women when it came to kissing, though hell if he knew what they were.

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With Nee’s agreement came two varying sensations that both washed over Basil at the same time: relief, and then, just as quickly, nervousness. He nodded, following along with Eldritch’s assessment and outlines. His conclusions made sense. They should each try being the one to, er, initiate? Basil continued nodding and then paused.

“Erm, I don’t know if there’s a difference?” he said. “I think it’s just the person who starts. Do girls kiss differently than boys?” Drat! Did he have to pretend to kiss like a girl?! No. That was silly. It was universal! At least… that’s what Atticus had said once. Something about love being the universal language? It really couldn’t be this complicated, especially if his brother pretended to know anything about it... “I-I guess I can start! But how will we know if we do it wrong?” The color was returning to his face and as the moment drew closer, Basil couldn’t help but feel warm again. His fingertips felt like ice by comparison. He hoped he wouldn’t need to use them.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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Oh, that made sense. Why hadn't he thought of that? Morgan felt his cheeks flush again. He was being shown up by Basil on the subject of kissing, which really highlighted how little he'd known about the procedure, no matter what he said to other boys his age when it came up in conversations. It was probably a good thing they were doing this, then; he didn't know how he would have gotten through a kiss with a girl if he hadn't had some avenue to figure things out first. He also wasn't sure what to think about Basil offering to start. On the one hand, it meant he didn't have to think of how to start, which was a relief, but on the other hand it also felt a little wrong. It had been Morgan's idea, so shouldn't he be the one starting?

He didn't feel strongly enough about it to argue the point, though. He shifted his position on the floor so that he was sitting on his knees facing Basil, which seemed like an appropriate position to kiss someone from. He didn't know what to do with his hands, so settled for resting them on his thighs for now. "I'm sure we'll know if we're doing it wrong," he said. "It's supposed to feel nice, right? So if it doesn't feel nice, we'll know." He was fairly confident of this; he was less confident that he would know how to fix it if he was doing it wrong.

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As Nee repositioned himself, Basil suddenly wondered if he’d been too hasty offering to go first. Obviously Nee would know more than him, maybe he should have left it to his friend to lead. Maybe he should…reposition himself too? Basil shifted, awkwardly, trying to find a stance that felt close enough to Nee but not… forced. He finally settled on mimicking the other and scootched in closer so that their knees were touching. The touch was a small comfort in an overall tense situation. Basil was decidedly not that much shorter than Nee, but it was enough of a difference that he felt he had to stay kneeling to be close enough.

As Eldritch responded to his query, Basil nodded and sat back on his haunches - just for a moment. “Ok,” he chirped nervously. Then, he paused, stalling. There really was nothing else to say unless he was going to find an excuse to back down. At this point, Basil knew he still could but it seemed silly after everything they’d gone through to get here. He worried his bottom lip and stared at Nee directly in the face. Well, he supposed, there was nothing left to it then.

Decision made, Basil’s blood began to pump a little faster in his veins. He sat back up and leaned forward, trying hopelessly not to loose his balance, and pressed his forehead gently against that of his friend’s. He still gazed slightly doe-eyed into the other’s brilliant hues. From this distance, he noticed almost immediately that Nee smelled nice. That must be one of the perks of kissing someone, he supposed. The hint of a grin began to tickle at him, but the Ravenclaw knew better than to let it spread over his face. This was so silly, he had no reason to be nervous about kissing Nee. Nee was literally his best friend. Even if he was awful at it, they would help each other improve. That was kind the point of this little escapade, right? Basil sucked in a deep breath.

He was definitely overthinking this.

Throwing caution to the wind, Basil decided to just jump. Eyes drawing shut, (because how weird would it be to do this staring Nee straight in the face!) he leaned forward. The moment their lips touched, it was like a new instinct entirely overcame him.

A warm heat spread all over Basil, from top to bottom. It was odd, this sensation, like nothing he’d ever felt before. It was thrilling, but terrifying, and pushed at him from a place Basil was wholly unfamiliar with! Alarmed, and concerned he wasn’t doing it right, he pulled back abruptly and gazed at Nee with a kicked-puppy expression. “I think I did it wrong,” he whispered.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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The moment before Basil kissed him seemed to stretch forever. It was oddly unnerving, having Basil's face so close to his and looking directly into his eyes. Nee felt exposed. If there was anyone he could trust himself to feel this way around it was probably Basil, because Basil was imminently safe, but still it made him more and more nervous the longer the moment lasted. When Basil finally moved in it caught him off guard. He gasped slightly just as Basil's lips connected with his, and only then remembered to shut his eyes.

Morgan hadn't known what to expect, but he hadn't thought Basil would be good at it right away. That was the whole point of practicing in the first place, and if either of them were going to be naturally better at it... well, maybe this was a little mean, but Morgan assumed it would be him. He'd always been more effortless in social situations than Basil was, and kissing seemed like a part of social life to some extent. If the method of evaluation was whether or not it felt nice, though... well, Basil wasn't doing a bad job of it at all. Morgan's stomach was fluttering with butterflies but his chest felt warm. Basil moved his lips against Morgan's, just slightly, and it was so unexpectedly delightful it nearly made him giggle.

Then all of the sudden it was over. Morgan blinked at Basil, confused by his reaction. "I don't think so. That was — didn't that feel nice for you? It felt nice for me." Was it possible that kissing felt different for each person? He couldn't imagine why — it was the same kind of contact. How could Basil not have just had all that warm-in-the-chest, butterflies-in-the-stomach sort of thing Nee had just experienced?

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Basil’s heart was hammering in his chest. It felt like all the alcohol he’d consumed that night was conspiring to make him feel both light-headed and overly stimulated all at once. He looked at Nee, face red as a tomatoe, and felt his stomach turn over a little bit. “Er,” he stammered. “It was unexpected I think.” Yes, that was it. Unexpected. In reality, Basil had panicked at the first sensation and backed off, not letting himself feel fully and understand what was actually going on. He regretted that decision dearly now.

Running a hand through his hair, the Ravenclaw sat back on his haunches. “To be honest,” he admitted. “I think we should try again. I think I moved away too quickly to collect adequate data.”

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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If he wasn't still so nervous, Morgan might have laughed at Basil's phrasing. Collect adequate data. Basil was always a Ravenclaw, but he seemed to get even more analytical and academic when he was anxious. Morgan reached over and brushed his hand against Basil's thigh briefly, a gesture meant to make this feel a bit more familiar and calm him down slightly. On the one hand, there was nothing familiar about this, because it wasn't something either of them had done before, but on the other hand it was still them. It felt a little silly to be this wound up about something the two of them were doing together.

"I think you're right," he agreed, unconsciously leaning forward slightly to prepare for another go. "Do you want me to start this time, or do you want to go again?"

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As Nee reached out to lay a hand gently on his thigh, Basil felt himself both relax and light on fire a little bit. On the one hand the touch was extremely comforting; it meant that they were still doing alright and that, at the end of the day, they were still friends just as they had been before any of this had begun. On the other hand, it also burnt Basil much the way that kiss had with an overwhelming sensation of…newness he wasn’t sure he’d adequately explored. He quickly brought his own hand to cover Nee’s and maybe hold it in place, lest it decide to go anywhere.

Sitting up straight as the other agreed they should give it another go, Basil nodded his head. “Maybe you try this time,” he whispered. He still needed a minute to recollect his own wits.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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Morgan nodded. He wasn't as nervous to start this time as he had been initially. Basil had paved the way a bit, he supposed, so now it wasn't quite so nerve-racking. He knew, at least, that he wasn't going to make some fundamental mistake in the first ten seconds, if he followed the same pattern that Basil had gone through. He still had one hand on Basil's thigh — he hadn't intended to leave it there but wasn't going to pull it away while Basil's hand was over his. As he leaned in to start the kiss he brought his other hand up to hold Basil's face, because he thought that was something people did and that he'd heard about before.

He leaned in a bit more carefully than Basil had, so that their lips connected gently. He closed his eyes and moved his lips a bit, trying to replicate what Basil had done just at the moment he'd pulled away that had felt so nice. He was glad he'd decided to touch his friend's face — it was stabilizing. Otherwise he thought he might be in danger of losing his balance and knocking Basil over as he fell towards him.

How long were kisses supposed to last? Morgan didn't know. He was enjoying this one, but he didn't want to linger too long and make things awkward if Basil wasn't enjoying it. How was he supposed to know if the other person was enjoying the kiss or not? Morgan was feeling warm-with-butterflies again, but he didn't know how to gauge Basil's reaction without pulling back and looking at his face. Without really knowing why, he moved his fingers slightly against Basil's thigh, as though he could somehow intuit how he was feeling based on the way he felt under Nee's fingertips.

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   Basil Foxwood

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Basil took in a harrowing breath as Nee neared. He was glad the other didn’t pull his hand away; it gave him something to potentially hold on to if he felt he was going to fall endlessly again. The scent of Nee close was calming in itself though, and Basil felt that same giddiness from before begin to rise. He gazed openly, expectantly, at his friend as a hand was put to his face. (Now there was a good, steadying idea.) For some reason this time felt easier. Maybe it was because he wasn’t himself in the spotlight, or maybe because he knew what the initial impact would be like. Either way, Basil felt blue-grey eyes slip closed automatically as Nee gently pressed their lips together.

Even though he almost expected it, the initial impact hit him like a load of Christmas crackers all exploding at once. His stomach flipped over and Basil felt that insistent urge to push back claw at him. He didn’t act upon it, instead letting Nee take the lead, and more fluttering fireworks tickled his insides. Nee was so soft, and gentle, and sweet. Maybe they had both been overthinking this for much too long. As his mouth moved to answer his friend, Basil again felt that strange instinct pulling at him to take command and he couldn’t help himself.

Acting of its own volition entirely, his tongue moved forward and, cautiously, pressed against Nee’s lower lip. Basil felt warm all over and he was actually rather pleased with how this kiss was going. Perhaps he had been too hasty before; perhaps it really wasn’t as… complicated as he’d expected. Just then, Nee’s hand moved marginally on his thigh and Basil lifted his own from overtop of it. It was strange, the feeling of invitation he felt all of a sudden to let Nee’s hands go quite where they pleased. His own hands, for their part, settled one in the crook of Nee’s outstretched arm, and the other gently on the back of Nee’s head, at the base of his neck. He too, was trying to stabilize as best as possible.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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Oh! Tongues. Nee should have thought of that. He knew tongues had something to do with kissing, but it hadn't exactly made sense in his head until he felt Basil's tongue at his lower lip. He wanted to return the favor, but thought he might need to be closer to Basil to do so without losing balance. Basil had just moved his hands, though, which gave Morgan the freedom to do that. He edged a little closer, one knee sliding between Basil's legs and the other off to the side of his friend. He moved the hand that had been on Basil's thigh up slightly, settling on his hip in a way that at forced felt a little awkward and forced but almost immediately began to feel natural.

He pushed his tongue into Basil's mouth. The feeling of Basil's tongue near his was something he couldn't describe. Before he realized what was happening he let out a slight moan. He was immediately mortified. He broke off the kiss, but didn't move back or move his hands away yet. He was a little too shell-shocked to do much at the moment.

"That's probably enough," he said quickly, hoping Basil would be kind enough not to bring up the noise he'd just made. "I think we've got the hang of it now."

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Basil wasn’t sure it was possible for Nee to kiss wrong, ever. The whole thing was surreal, perfect, in a way he could never even conceive to describe. As Nee moved closer, his knee sliding between Basil’s legs, the Ravenclaw felt his pulse race faster. The hand that had been on his thigh moved conspicuously up to his hip and Basil suddenly felt warm. Constricted. Like he needed Nee’s touch more personally than just on the surface.

Nee then made to answer his tongue inquiry and Basil felt so incredibly excited. He wasn’t sure there was any other way to kiss really, not after this. Nee had definitely found the best tactic. Or had he initiated? Basil didn’t know, and frankly, he didn’t care, because suddenly Nee made the most incredible noise he’d ever heard. Basil didn’t even have time to react before the other pulled away from him though.

Shell-shocked, and a little dizzy from that experience, he blinked stupidly. The Slytherin was still close, practically on top of him, and Basil took a moment to really appreciate how nice that was. One hand, the one that had been on the back of his neck, came up to brush a stray lock of hair from Nee’s face. Then, the other was calling it quits and everything in Basil wanted to protest. He knew he couldn’t but he wanted to. Maybe he could say something about not yet feeling prepared, but it felt like too much of a cop out for Nee to believe him. And, frankly, Basil realized - they probably did have the hang of it now. At least on the surface. Enough to not look like idiots. He couldn’t help the dejected look that crossed his face anyway. There was still so much running through his mind about what happened next, that he couldn’t quite bring himself to vocalize.

“Sure,” he conceded instead. Then, pressing his forehead to Nee’s again just because he could, Basil sighed softly. He’d let Nee disentangle them. He was perfectly content to sit here just like this.

- - - - -
Eldritch Morgan

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   Eldritch Morgan