Lex undergoes the same reaction, but comes out of it looking more pissed off than anything. His spine straightens, then he deliberately re-slumps.

"You are very lucky that was the spell I was already trying to cast," he mutters.

"—oh. Oh." He giggles, and grins, and pulls Lex back into a closer, tighter hug.

"Bastard," Lex says, slightly muffled. "Won't even let me be catastrophically broken. Utter bastard."

"You're like a bloody cat," Edmund snorts, joining the hug.

"Just how much—never mind, are your crystals back in your dorm similarly fucked or can I replenish your costs, here?" And now he's back to "eeeeeee boyfriends" as his general mood. "And what was that spell?"

Lex looks solemn. "...they're not as fucked, this one's completely irreparable. But - I had thirty filled. I... I'm going to have to take inventory."

He sighs. "The spell's one of Mum's. She calls it the set-right, it's - usually it doesn't even take mana, for if you're just in a mood, it's more of a cognitive-behavioral technique on steroids. But if you cast it proper it does... more than that?"

"Fucking right it does more than that, I barely feel like crap at all. How about we get dressed and move this little party to your room and I can top you up and we can be in less grimy surroundings."

"...alright. I'm not sure even you can manage to refill thirty drained Radiant Mind crystals but I'm not going to tell you what's impossible."

Lex stands and retrieves his clothes. He also looks ruefully at the dried cum on his desk. "...Pevensie, you got a cleaning spell? I, uh, don't, and I'd like to treat the carrel with due respect."

"Σπέρμα, εξαφανίστηκε. Κάντε αυτό το γραφείο καθαρό και αγνό για άλλη μια φορά."

The desk returns to its original state.

"You don't have a cleaning spell?"

"I'm an ascetic."

"Am I allowed to translate that or do you wanna keep it a secret still?" Scorpius asks, starting to put his own clothes on too.

"Fine, yes, my affinity means the Void won't give me hardly anything that isn't, uh, gratuitously evil."

"...what's it give you if you ask for cleaning?"

"This time it was organic disintegration. Time before I got something for bleaching bone. Once I got a recipe for a 'cleanser' potion that just... ugh."

"His aura of 'everything is about to go wrong and I was having such a nice day, too' is probably as related to his affinity as my ability to take mana from mals is to mine," Scorpius adds.

"...huh. Well, your affinity just came rather in handy..."

Edmund pauses in the middle of donning his trousers and glances at Lex's face.

"We can't tell anyone about this. Can we."

"...no. Not unless we want every enclave in this school to start fighting for him or maybe trying to kill him."

"Oh, worked that one out?"

Lex leaves his shirt mostly unbuttoned. That ship has largely sailed.

"Yes, you've presumably had a bit more time to think about it. But - what's your plan, then? Or what was your plan?"

"My plan?"

"For graduation. You're an indie. You didn't have a team. How were you going to get one? If you couldn't - show off."

"I had thirty crystals. You don't know that I couldn't have - done something - shown off a little."

"...no you couldn't. You could have either shown off a little and had everyone ignore you, because they hate you, or you could have shown off a lot and - let them fight for you."

"Wasn't really... thinking that way. I guess."

"...sure."