[fic] Charming Luka Reinhardt [Under a Glass Moon][for caringbear2]
Fandom: Under a Glass Moon
Title: Charming Luka Reinhardt
Pairing/characters: Luka/Neo, hints of Luel/Nell
Warnings/notes: For caringbear2. I feel a bit weird, labeling this post-manga when, as far as I know, the manga never actually got beyond the second volume, but oh well. Assume the manga's finished. Assume the world was saved. Assume that everybody survived and set out to live forever after.
Disclaimer: I don't own Under a Glass Moon. Efreet, Undine and Silph are all canonical, while Zephyr's name is included because I felt she needed to be called *something*. The same goes for Alixandra Servillia Batolli, better known as Madame Batolli. If they were ever named in the manga, I missed it and apologize most sincerely.
x
[first incantation: An Ending to Paranoia]
x
"Really, Luel, haven't you noticed how utterly *miserable* the poor boy has been these past weeks?" Alixandra Servillia Batolli demanded of her son-in-law, who hadn't yet recovered from the last time he addressed her as 'mother' in a near-fatal moment of absent-mindedness.
Luel considered the matter for a few moments before deciding that there didn't seem to be any safe answer to that statement. If truth be told, he'd made some cautious attempts to suggest to Luka that perhaps it might be a good idea for him and Neo to spend some quality-time by themselves, as a typical mentor and his student might.
If looks could kill, a lot of his current problems wouldn't have mattered to him anymore. There'd have been a few drawbacks to being dead, obviously, but at present ...
"Are you *listening* to me?"
Luel sighed. "I'm certain that my brother - "
"Your brother is an arrogant idiot whose head has become two sizes too big, just because he helped you and Neo a teensy little bit when you saved the world!"
Normally, Luel reflected mournfully, he'd have been overjoyed to be rescued by the vision of loveliness and beauty that was his fiancee. Unfortunately, Nell hadn't yet quite forgiven Luka for his asking her to assist him in a spell that required the participation of a virgin.
"That's not - "
"Don't you ever get sick of always defending him?" Nell demanded. "What has he ever done for you? He's always criticizing you!"
"He - " Luel knew he wasn't going to be allowed to finish a single sentence. He wondered why he even bothered to try and come up with a reply.
"That's right, Luel!" Mother and daughter nodded at each other, in complete agreement for once. Luel could almost feel sorry for Luka. "Besides, think of poor Neo! Don't you have a heart? Think of how *you* felt when Nell was ignoring you all the time!"
"But - " Luka wasn't ignoring Neo, really, as far as Luel could see. Luka was just ... not seducing an emotionally-damaged victim of a particularly nasty spell that their late, unlamented father had cast on him. Of course, that *had* been several months ago, but Luel was sure that Luka knew what he was doing. Most of the time.
"He's withering away! Pining! Spending his nights staring at the ceiling in hopeless longing for a man who doesn't deserve the right to prepare his breakfast, let alone - "
"Mother!" Nell rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, dear, dear Luel, *surely* you see that something needs to be done? And we're not asking that much from you, are we? A few simple ingredients, a potion or two, a carefully planted suggestion ... "
"Or no sex for a week!" Nell added firmly.
"But we're not - " Luel began, halting himself when he caught the expression on Nell's face. "Oh. Yes, I see. That would be ... unpleasant." He didn't think her mother would be fooled.
"Wonderful!" Then again, perhaps she simply didn't care.
x
"I don't like it when Neo is unhappy!" Zephyr sighed, causing a stack of papers to be blown across the room. None of the others commented on this, though Undine didn't look very pleased
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"It's all Luka's fault. You should let me burn him," Efreet grumbled. The fire in the hearth roared.
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"He doesn't make sense! One moment he wants to be near Luka, the next he's running away from him! It's making my head hurt! Why can't he make up his mind?" Zephyr moaned.
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"We should get rid of Luka! I never liked him from the start! You've all seen what an impudent and dangerous man his father became, so why would Luka be any better? Like father, like son." The carpet started smouldering.
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"There is." Undine gestured sharply. The carpet now looked a little wet. "And this is it."
She explained. Efreet muttered, Zephyr groaned and Silph remained quiet, yet in the end, they agreed.
(In another room, Luka finally managed to stop sneezing, waving away a concerned Neo with assurances that he was feeling perfectly fine, and not about to die from a cold.)
x
[second incantation: It's Like Saving the World, Only Better]
xx
After three weeks, seven explosions, thirteen ruined experiments and a dozen times of needing to rescue Neo from, in no particular order, garden-gnomes, poisonous mushrooms, wildfire, leaping water and a particularly nasty potted plant, Luka gave up on being suspicious, and became convinced that something strange was going on instead.
It didn't take being the greatest dark wizard of the 21st century to add the fact that neither Luel nor either of the Batollis was being pestered by any consistent, bad luck, to the fact that their house was protected by some of the best warding spells available to the modern wizard who frowned upon the sacrificing of virgins and had instead embraced the wonders of modern technology and the Internet. Luka reached the inevitable conclusion, and went to see the obvious culprits.
"All right, what are they up to?" If not before gathering a bit of information about the enemy's movements first, just to stay on the safe side, and to make sure that nobody who didn't deserve it'd get hurt when he cast a few spells of his own.
"Who?" Luel asked, keeping his back to Luka, and aiming for a muffled, unclear voice that'd hopefully suggest to Luka that Luel was in the middle of an important procedure from which he couldn't be distracted without dire consequences.
"Don't play innocent with me, Luel. I know that you know," Luka snapped, preferring to emphasize the fact that he did know that Luel knew, instead of the fact that he didn't know *what* Luel knew.
"And now I know that you know that I know. Is that supposed to make any sense to me?" Luel thought he ought to be able to keep up this game for a while, perhaps even long enough for Nell to come to his rescue.
"I'm your brother," Luka pointed out.
Luel didn't think there was much he could say to that, so instead, he merely nodded.
"And she's just the love of your life. So it's obvious where your loyalties should lie." Luka crossed his arms over his chest. "Spill the beans, Luel, before things get nasty."
"You mean 'nasty' as in 'me hitting you over the head with my broom because you're bothering my darling Luel'?" Nell made her entrance, as usual, in the nick of time. Luel rather suspected her of having listened at the doorhole from the moment Luka'd slammed the door behind him; it was just the kind of sweet, cute thing Nell would do. "Is that what you mean, Luka?"
"Or do you mean 'nasty' as in 'me slapping you with this very powerful spell that's taken me two weeks to complete'?" Alixandra dangled a not-very-impressive looking charm barely out of Luka's reach. She was, after all, a witch, not a fool.
"Madame, I assure you ... " Luka stared at the charm. "The bloom of youth has not yet left your cheeks. You have no need for a love-spell to be able to draw everyone's eyes to your voluptuous figure."
She blushed. Luel had known she'd do that.
Nell stamped her feet. "Mother! Think about Neo!"
"What does Neo have to do with this?" Luka demanded sharply. "If you think I'll just watch while that old hag takes advantage of his innocence and trust, you're dead wrong, missy."
"Oh-ho, Luka. Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?" Nell smirked. Luel started calculating the time it'd take him to jump in front of her, and the time it'd take Luka to come up with a spell to incinerate her on the spot. "Admit it: you don't give a damn about his innocence. You just want him for yourself."
"I have never heard anything more ridiculous in my life!" Luka snorted. "As if!"
"As if you wouldn't lust after a pretty young boy who totally worships you! Yeah, right, I don't see why you'd ever think about seducing him. Oh please, Luka, come off it! Nobody in this room's buying your goody-goody act, not even Luel." Nell's glance told Luel he could either nod meekly or kiss his upcoming wedding farewell.
"I don't have to listen to this!" Luka stalked out of the laboratory.
Nell had to drag Alixandra out of his way, who still appeared to be in shock, and was repeating the words 'old hag' more often than Luel'd consider healthy.
"Uhm, mother? Weren't you going to give that to Neo?" Nell tried to pry the love-charm out of Alixandra's hands witout any noticeable success.
"Luka called me an old hag!" Alixandra wailed. Luel thought he'd met several banshees over the years who'd envy her for her great reach and capability of sounding utterly, completely miserable.
"And a cheap trinket like the one you're holding right now isn't going to change that," Nell responded tartly, before Luel had been able to come up with something that wasn't wholly a lie, yet would offer some comfort all the same. "You're getting old, mother; live with it."
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Alixandra screeched.
Luel slowly began his retreat to the door. This might be his laboratory, but that didn't mean he considered it worth his life to prevent a pair of angry witches from breaking some beakers and bottles. A man had to have his priorities clear in this household.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of Luka, leaning against the opposite wall, looking like the last thing on his mind would be to listen in on the going-ons in Luel's laboratory.
"I've told Neo we'll be making a trip to a typical deserted tropical island for a couple of weeks. You're free to tag along, if you want, as long as you leave the trollop behind."
xx
[third incantation: A Hopeful Beginning]
xxx
On the first day, Luka's tent was invaded by three armies of red ants, which bothered neither Neo nor Luel, in spite of the tent of the latter containing their food-stores. He spent the night in a tree, shivering and plotting revenge on the insect-kingdom that had dared to ruin his beauty-sleep.
On the second day, Luel twisted his ankle when he stumbled over a tree-root. He swore the thing had tripped him up on purpose, a claim that Luka would normally have poked fun at, but presently merely greeted with a grumbled 'bet it did'. Neo offered first aid, which Luel accepted only after Luka had pointed out what a burden to Nell he'd be if he showed up on her doorstep unfit for anything but hobbling around and lying in bed, recovering.
On the third day, neither Luka nor Neo managed to get a fire going, which condemned both of them to go to bed hungry. The red ants returned, chasing Luka out of his tent and thoroughly destroying the food-stores this time.
On the fourth day, Neo decided it'd be a good idea to wash their clothing. While it was hanging out to dry, Luka somehow got soaked by a very local rainstorm. At Neo's insistance, he changed into an improvised costume made from the cloth of his tent. Refusing Neo's offer to share the one tent that remained, Luka once again slept in a tree.
On the fifth day, Luka stared Neo straight in the eyes, and asked him if Neo had any idea what was causing the misfortune that had been haunting them the past period.
Neo flushed, either because he was sitting a little too close to the fire, or because the answer that he gave Luka (a firm 'no') wasn't the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he'd promised to tell, no matter what. (Luka'd tried to convince him to renounce that promise more than once, which might be why Luka merely nodded, and didn't accuse Neo of lying right away.)
"You know," Luka mused, his gaze on the fire that for once burnt normally, and one arm slung around Neo's shoulder in a gesture that Neo took to be typical camaraderie, and not in any way meaningful or to be mistaken for any sign of romantical inclinations, "I really hate it when people try to push me around."
"People like your father?" Neo asked, a tad nervously. After all, from a certain point of view, if it hadn't been for Neo, Luka might actually be talking to his father now, instead of just to his apprentice. The fact that Luka's father would likely be ruling the world then, and not for the good of all mankind, seemed a mere detail, really.
"Actually, I was thinking more of people like Nell and Alixandra," Luka replied. He still sounded like his mind was miles and ages away from the here and now.
"Madame Batolli is really nice." Neo drew out a small amulet, deciding that there was little he'd left to lose now. "She gave me this, before I left. To help me gain my heart's desire."
Luka chuckled. Neo wasn't entirely sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. "That's a love-charm. Did you know that? A trinket to draw the gaze of the one whose affections you crave."
"I know that." Neo didn't actually believe that it'd work, that the greatest dark wizard of the 21st century would turn out to be susceptible to a simple love-charm, but he'd tried out about everything else, including cooking and being a perfectly attentive student, and none of it worked.
Luka nodded. "I like you, even if you're too naive for your own good. Then again, everyone keeps telling me I'm too jaded for my age. We're opposites, in a sense."
Neo kept silent. He knew the Sixth Rule of Merlin, which stated, simply, that opposites attracted one another (and usualy caused a big boom when they met, whatever that might mean).
"I really don't understand you," Luka continued. "I don't understand why my brother's getting married, or why Alixandra thinks it's the end of the world when her mirror tells her she's got a grey hair."
"That wasn't true, was it?" Neo frowned. He'd been steering this conversation into a specific direction, and he'd got no idea how they'd ended up here, discussing Madame Batolli.
"Who cares?" Luka shrugged. "I already told you I don't understand you, and I suck at this kind of things, not just because I don't do them very often, but also because Luel has always been the one to - well, I guess Luel's got Nell now. And I've got you, sort of. Not."
Neo thought it might be prudent not to comment on the lack of sense in that statement.
"I could ... throw this thing away," he proposed instead, tossing the charm into the fire before Luka could tell him that hadn't been his intention at all, or before his conscience could remind him it's very bad manners to get rid of gifts given from the heart.
"And I could give this a try, without feeling like I'm only doing what other people want me to do." Luka's arm around Neo's shoulder seemed different somehow, heavier and lighter at the same time.
Neo resisted the temptation to comment that Luka was definitely doing what he, Neo, wanted at the moment. It seemed smarter to make sure his mouth wasn't occupied with something so unimportant as talking, with Luka inching a bit closer to him every second.
(The kiss, when they eventually got to it, exceeded all of their expectations. It also landed Luka in bed for a week, with severe burns from the fire that had somehow taken exception to his putting his hands on Neo. Their second kiss therefore took place in an aquarium, and was a little less heated, but satisfactory all the same.)
~OWARI~
Title: Charming Luka Reinhardt
Pairing/characters: Luka/Neo, hints of Luel/Nell
Warnings/notes: For caringbear2. I feel a bit weird, labeling this post-manga when, as far as I know, the manga never actually got beyond the second volume, but oh well. Assume the manga's finished. Assume the world was saved. Assume that everybody survived and set out to live forever after.
Disclaimer: I don't own Under a Glass Moon. Efreet, Undine and Silph are all canonical, while Zephyr's name is included because I felt she needed to be called *something*. The same goes for Alixandra Servillia Batolli, better known as Madame Batolli. If they were ever named in the manga, I missed it and apologize most sincerely.
x
[first incantation: An Ending to Paranoia]
x
"Really, Luel, haven't you noticed how utterly *miserable* the poor boy has been these past weeks?" Alixandra Servillia Batolli demanded of her son-in-law, who hadn't yet recovered from the last time he addressed her as 'mother' in a near-fatal moment of absent-mindedness.
Luel considered the matter for a few moments before deciding that there didn't seem to be any safe answer to that statement. If truth be told, he'd made some cautious attempts to suggest to Luka that perhaps it might be a good idea for him and Neo to spend some quality-time by themselves, as a typical mentor and his student might.
If looks could kill, a lot of his current problems wouldn't have mattered to him anymore. There'd have been a few drawbacks to being dead, obviously, but at present ...
"Are you *listening* to me?"
Luel sighed. "I'm certain that my brother - "
"Your brother is an arrogant idiot whose head has become two sizes too big, just because he helped you and Neo a teensy little bit when you saved the world!"
Normally, Luel reflected mournfully, he'd have been overjoyed to be rescued by the vision of loveliness and beauty that was his fiancee. Unfortunately, Nell hadn't yet quite forgiven Luka for his asking her to assist him in a spell that required the participation of a virgin.
"That's not - "
"Don't you ever get sick of always defending him?" Nell demanded. "What has he ever done for you? He's always criticizing you!"
"He - " Luel knew he wasn't going to be allowed to finish a single sentence. He wondered why he even bothered to try and come up with a reply.
"That's right, Luel!" Mother and daughter nodded at each other, in complete agreement for once. Luel could almost feel sorry for Luka. "Besides, think of poor Neo! Don't you have a heart? Think of how *you* felt when Nell was ignoring you all the time!"
"But - " Luka wasn't ignoring Neo, really, as far as Luel could see. Luka was just ... not seducing an emotionally-damaged victim of a particularly nasty spell that their late, unlamented father had cast on him. Of course, that *had* been several months ago, but Luel was sure that Luka knew what he was doing. Most of the time.
"He's withering away! Pining! Spending his nights staring at the ceiling in hopeless longing for a man who doesn't deserve the right to prepare his breakfast, let alone - "
"Mother!" Nell rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, dear, dear Luel, *surely* you see that something needs to be done? And we're not asking that much from you, are we? A few simple ingredients, a potion or two, a carefully planted suggestion ... "
"Or no sex for a week!" Nell added firmly.
"But we're not - " Luel began, halting himself when he caught the expression on Nell's face. "Oh. Yes, I see. That would be ... unpleasant." He didn't think her mother would be fooled.
"Wonderful!" Then again, perhaps she simply didn't care.
x
"I don't like it when Neo is unhappy!" Zephyr sighed, causing a stack of papers to be blown across the room. None of the others commented on this, though Undine didn't look very pleased
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"It's all Luka's fault. You should let me burn him," Efreet grumbled. The fire in the hearth roared.
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"He doesn't make sense! One moment he wants to be near Luka, the next he's running away from him! It's making my head hurt! Why can't he make up his mind?" Zephyr moaned.
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"We should get rid of Luka! I never liked him from the start! You've all seen what an impudent and dangerous man his father became, so why would Luka be any better? Like father, like son." The carpet started smouldering.
"There has to be something we can do to help," Silph said.
"There is." Undine gestured sharply. The carpet now looked a little wet. "And this is it."
She explained. Efreet muttered, Zephyr groaned and Silph remained quiet, yet in the end, they agreed.
(In another room, Luka finally managed to stop sneezing, waving away a concerned Neo with assurances that he was feeling perfectly fine, and not about to die from a cold.)
x
[second incantation: It's Like Saving the World, Only Better]
xx
After three weeks, seven explosions, thirteen ruined experiments and a dozen times of needing to rescue Neo from, in no particular order, garden-gnomes, poisonous mushrooms, wildfire, leaping water and a particularly nasty potted plant, Luka gave up on being suspicious, and became convinced that something strange was going on instead.
It didn't take being the greatest dark wizard of the 21st century to add the fact that neither Luel nor either of the Batollis was being pestered by any consistent, bad luck, to the fact that their house was protected by some of the best warding spells available to the modern wizard who frowned upon the sacrificing of virgins and had instead embraced the wonders of modern technology and the Internet. Luka reached the inevitable conclusion, and went to see the obvious culprits.
"All right, what are they up to?" If not before gathering a bit of information about the enemy's movements first, just to stay on the safe side, and to make sure that nobody who didn't deserve it'd get hurt when he cast a few spells of his own.
"Who?" Luel asked, keeping his back to Luka, and aiming for a muffled, unclear voice that'd hopefully suggest to Luka that Luel was in the middle of an important procedure from which he couldn't be distracted without dire consequences.
"Don't play innocent with me, Luel. I know that you know," Luka snapped, preferring to emphasize the fact that he did know that Luel knew, instead of the fact that he didn't know *what* Luel knew.
"And now I know that you know that I know. Is that supposed to make any sense to me?" Luel thought he ought to be able to keep up this game for a while, perhaps even long enough for Nell to come to his rescue.
"I'm your brother," Luka pointed out.
Luel didn't think there was much he could say to that, so instead, he merely nodded.
"And she's just the love of your life. So it's obvious where your loyalties should lie." Luka crossed his arms over his chest. "Spill the beans, Luel, before things get nasty."
"You mean 'nasty' as in 'me hitting you over the head with my broom because you're bothering my darling Luel'?" Nell made her entrance, as usual, in the nick of time. Luel rather suspected her of having listened at the doorhole from the moment Luka'd slammed the door behind him; it was just the kind of sweet, cute thing Nell would do. "Is that what you mean, Luka?"
"Or do you mean 'nasty' as in 'me slapping you with this very powerful spell that's taken me two weeks to complete'?" Alixandra dangled a not-very-impressive looking charm barely out of Luka's reach. She was, after all, a witch, not a fool.
"Madame, I assure you ... " Luka stared at the charm. "The bloom of youth has not yet left your cheeks. You have no need for a love-spell to be able to draw everyone's eyes to your voluptuous figure."
She blushed. Luel had known she'd do that.
Nell stamped her feet. "Mother! Think about Neo!"
"What does Neo have to do with this?" Luka demanded sharply. "If you think I'll just watch while that old hag takes advantage of his innocence and trust, you're dead wrong, missy."
"Oh-ho, Luka. Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?" Nell smirked. Luel started calculating the time it'd take him to jump in front of her, and the time it'd take Luka to come up with a spell to incinerate her on the spot. "Admit it: you don't give a damn about his innocence. You just want him for yourself."
"I have never heard anything more ridiculous in my life!" Luka snorted. "As if!"
"As if you wouldn't lust after a pretty young boy who totally worships you! Yeah, right, I don't see why you'd ever think about seducing him. Oh please, Luka, come off it! Nobody in this room's buying your goody-goody act, not even Luel." Nell's glance told Luel he could either nod meekly or kiss his upcoming wedding farewell.
"I don't have to listen to this!" Luka stalked out of the laboratory.
Nell had to drag Alixandra out of his way, who still appeared to be in shock, and was repeating the words 'old hag' more often than Luel'd consider healthy.
"Uhm, mother? Weren't you going to give that to Neo?" Nell tried to pry the love-charm out of Alixandra's hands witout any noticeable success.
"Luka called me an old hag!" Alixandra wailed. Luel thought he'd met several banshees over the years who'd envy her for her great reach and capability of sounding utterly, completely miserable.
"And a cheap trinket like the one you're holding right now isn't going to change that," Nell responded tartly, before Luel had been able to come up with something that wasn't wholly a lie, yet would offer some comfort all the same. "You're getting old, mother; live with it."
"How dare you talk to me like that!" Alixandra screeched.
Luel slowly began his retreat to the door. This might be his laboratory, but that didn't mean he considered it worth his life to prevent a pair of angry witches from breaking some beakers and bottles. A man had to have his priorities clear in this household.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of Luka, leaning against the opposite wall, looking like the last thing on his mind would be to listen in on the going-ons in Luel's laboratory.
"I've told Neo we'll be making a trip to a typical deserted tropical island for a couple of weeks. You're free to tag along, if you want, as long as you leave the trollop behind."
xx
[third incantation: A Hopeful Beginning]
xxx
On the first day, Luka's tent was invaded by three armies of red ants, which bothered neither Neo nor Luel, in spite of the tent of the latter containing their food-stores. He spent the night in a tree, shivering and plotting revenge on the insect-kingdom that had dared to ruin his beauty-sleep.
On the second day, Luel twisted his ankle when he stumbled over a tree-root. He swore the thing had tripped him up on purpose, a claim that Luka would normally have poked fun at, but presently merely greeted with a grumbled 'bet it did'. Neo offered first aid, which Luel accepted only after Luka had pointed out what a burden to Nell he'd be if he showed up on her doorstep unfit for anything but hobbling around and lying in bed, recovering.
On the third day, neither Luka nor Neo managed to get a fire going, which condemned both of them to go to bed hungry. The red ants returned, chasing Luka out of his tent and thoroughly destroying the food-stores this time.
On the fourth day, Neo decided it'd be a good idea to wash their clothing. While it was hanging out to dry, Luka somehow got soaked by a very local rainstorm. At Neo's insistance, he changed into an improvised costume made from the cloth of his tent. Refusing Neo's offer to share the one tent that remained, Luka once again slept in a tree.
On the fifth day, Luka stared Neo straight in the eyes, and asked him if Neo had any idea what was causing the misfortune that had been haunting them the past period.
Neo flushed, either because he was sitting a little too close to the fire, or because the answer that he gave Luka (a firm 'no') wasn't the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, he'd promised to tell, no matter what. (Luka'd tried to convince him to renounce that promise more than once, which might be why Luka merely nodded, and didn't accuse Neo of lying right away.)
"You know," Luka mused, his gaze on the fire that for once burnt normally, and one arm slung around Neo's shoulder in a gesture that Neo took to be typical camaraderie, and not in any way meaningful or to be mistaken for any sign of romantical inclinations, "I really hate it when people try to push me around."
"People like your father?" Neo asked, a tad nervously. After all, from a certain point of view, if it hadn't been for Neo, Luka might actually be talking to his father now, instead of just to his apprentice. The fact that Luka's father would likely be ruling the world then, and not for the good of all mankind, seemed a mere detail, really.
"Actually, I was thinking more of people like Nell and Alixandra," Luka replied. He still sounded like his mind was miles and ages away from the here and now.
"Madame Batolli is really nice." Neo drew out a small amulet, deciding that there was little he'd left to lose now. "She gave me this, before I left. To help me gain my heart's desire."
Luka chuckled. Neo wasn't entirely sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. "That's a love-charm. Did you know that? A trinket to draw the gaze of the one whose affections you crave."
"I know that." Neo didn't actually believe that it'd work, that the greatest dark wizard of the 21st century would turn out to be susceptible to a simple love-charm, but he'd tried out about everything else, including cooking and being a perfectly attentive student, and none of it worked.
Luka nodded. "I like you, even if you're too naive for your own good. Then again, everyone keeps telling me I'm too jaded for my age. We're opposites, in a sense."
Neo kept silent. He knew the Sixth Rule of Merlin, which stated, simply, that opposites attracted one another (and usualy caused a big boom when they met, whatever that might mean).
"I really don't understand you," Luka continued. "I don't understand why my brother's getting married, or why Alixandra thinks it's the end of the world when her mirror tells her she's got a grey hair."
"That wasn't true, was it?" Neo frowned. He'd been steering this conversation into a specific direction, and he'd got no idea how they'd ended up here, discussing Madame Batolli.
"Who cares?" Luka shrugged. "I already told you I don't understand you, and I suck at this kind of things, not just because I don't do them very often, but also because Luel has always been the one to - well, I guess Luel's got Nell now. And I've got you, sort of. Not."
Neo thought it might be prudent not to comment on the lack of sense in that statement.
"I could ... throw this thing away," he proposed instead, tossing the charm into the fire before Luka could tell him that hadn't been his intention at all, or before his conscience could remind him it's very bad manners to get rid of gifts given from the heart.
"And I could give this a try, without feeling like I'm only doing what other people want me to do." Luka's arm around Neo's shoulder seemed different somehow, heavier and lighter at the same time.
Neo resisted the temptation to comment that Luka was definitely doing what he, Neo, wanted at the moment. It seemed smarter to make sure his mouth wasn't occupied with something so unimportant as talking, with Luka inching a bit closer to him every second.
(The kiss, when they eventually got to it, exceeded all of their expectations. It also landed Luka in bed for a week, with severe burns from the fire that had somehow taken exception to his putting his hands on Neo. Their second kiss therefore took place in an aquarium, and was a little less heated, but satisfactory all the same.)
~OWARI~