Cat Chant had always been good at magic, or so people told him. He was to be the next Chrestomanci when the current one chose to pass the job on to him, the greatest enchanter to ever live. Unfortunately, while Cat could do magic just fine, he rarely knew *when* he was doing it. Normally he just thought really hard about doing it, and it tended to work, mostly. There was a general assumption that as he got older and more practiced, he'd know when he was just hoping he was doing magic and when he actually *was* doing magic.

Unfortunately, despite being sixteen, it wasn't working just yet. In fact, it was working *worse*. Chrestomanci nodded sympathetically when he heard this and only commented that puberty was miserable, which was - well, it was sympathetic, but it wasn't much *help*. Cat scrubbed at his face in the mirror and made a face. *And* he had an ugly pimple beside his nose.

There came a knock at his door, and Cat leaned out of the bathroom to call, "Come in!" He grinned a bit when Tonino peeked in and waved.

"Are you decent, Cat?" Tonino's English had really improved during his stay here; he only had a faint hint of an accent.

Cat nodded and stepped out of the bathroom. "Yes. What's going on?"

Tonino shook his head. "Finished lessons. I was a little bored. You?"

With a sigh, Cat said, "Moping. Magic was *not* going particularly well, unfortunately. I *think* I was getting something, but I was trying to turn the water green and ... well, I couldn't tell if it was a reflection or if it worked."

"Perhaps I can help?" Tonino asked, pointing at himself.

Cat considered. It was true that Tonino's powers were as a strengthener of spells, but... "It's not that I'm not *strong*, just-"

"Ah, but it's not about *your* strength, it's about the strength of the spell. You cast it, and I can strengthen it after to see what we see."

Cat considered. "All right. It's stronger if you're touching me, right?" Tonino nodded, so Cat set up the bowl of water in the window seat and patted it beside him.

Tonino slid in and wrapped his arms around Cat from behind, leaning against him to rest his chin upon Cat's shoulder. Cat, much to his own startlement, couldn't quite resist a shiver at it, and blushed. He stared at the surface of the water and tried not to think about the heat of Tonino against his back.

"...Well?" Tonino prompted, after a moment. "Are you?"

"Right," Cat said hastily. He leaned back against Tonino and tried to focus. After a moment of thinking, the water seemed to turn a faint shade of green - though that might have just been the outside leaves and sunlight.

Tonino began to hum softly, and Cat almost lost the thread of the spell at the buzz of his chest. He managed to regain focus and watched as the water turned a distinct shade of sludge green. "It worked!"

The colour faded as Tonino stopped humming and Cat turned to grin at him hugely. Tonino smiled back, expression almost shy.

/It would be so easy,/ Cat thought. /It would be so easy-"

"Ah-" Tonino said, "Did you cast a spell on yourself? You are quite red..."

Cat turned redder. "Uh-" He coughed, cleared his throat. "No, just, uh."

Tonino nodded wisely. "Ah. Puberty, yes? It has such strange effects."

"Yes," Cat said. He leaned a little more, closed his eyes. "I guess so."

Tonino held him there for a long, long while.