“Just a little further.” Jenny led Theo deep into the College of War, past Grant at reception, past the baths, past the dusty forgotten room where they found the chest (and each other’s lips), past the obstacle courses –

They stopped outside the door to one of the obstacle courses.

“Is this just the obstacle course? Because I’ve done all of them.” Theo asked, a little deflated.

He had been rather curious and excited to see what Jenny was going to show him, but that was when he didn’t know what was going on.

Theo faked a smile as best he could, relying on whatever acting he had learned to seem genuine.

To his surprise, this did nothing to dissuade the bounce in her step, or the glint in her eye. “You’ll see.” Her eyebrows waggled.

Holding his hands up in defeat, Theo just followed Jenny into the room with the giant tangle of metal poles, and tried to look around and see if he’d missed anything.

His first time in this room was before he had any sensory internal magic, but all that Owl’s Eyes showed him was a closer look at all the wear and tear.

Jenny approached the metal mess, and waved at him to follow while he was scrutinising anything he could. “Come on!”

Theo followed at a reasonable pace, head on a swivel as he still tried to figure out what exactly was so special about the room.

She came to a stop in front of a seemingly-random set of pipes.

Feeling around the floor, her finger caught on something, and a trapdoor swung open.

Theo blinked twice. It had been perfectly flush with the floor, blending in seamlessly.

While he was tempted to take a moment just to open and close it and see if he could spot it, there was now a novel reason to be in this room, and he had been impatient enough already.

Jenny disappeared into the trapdoor, and he followed suit.

---

“Welcome, to the Martial Exchange!” Jenny threw her arms wide open, as Theo looked around the room they had descended into.

It was small and round, with the only thing of note (besides the ladder they climbed down) being a closed door. Theo looked around, and quirked an eyebrow.

“…Welcome to the entrance to the Martial Exchange!” She amended her statement as she saw Theo’s face, as enthusiastic as before.

Jenny flung open the door, and Theo peered down a long staircase, barely lit.

“If I die here, I’m going to haunt you.” Theo quipped.

Jenny didn’t respond, instead hugging him tight enough to force some air out of his body.

“What are yo-“

“Hold on tight!”

And with that, Jenny took a run-up, then jumped down.

Theo realised two things, as the bottom of the tunnel approached faster than it had any right to.

Firstly, the darkness hid the fact that the sides of the staircase were clearly designed to be used as a slide.

Secondly, the sound that he assumed was the wind whistling past his ear was instead a combination of his involuntary screaming, and Jenny’s whooping.

Theo flailed, struggling to get free. Her arms, normally comforting, were anything but, now a cage of iron.

This continued until they reached the bottom of the staircase, coming to a surprisingly gentle stop.

Jenny let go of him and dusted herself off. Theo fell to her side and blinked, still processing what had happened.

“Sorry, couldn’t ruin the surprise of that.” Jenny apologised, in a way that made clear she was not in any way apologising for what had actually happened, merely the way she forced him into it.

“…that’s enough surprise for one day.” Theo muttered, slightly pale. Jenny flushed, and for a moment he felt bad, but then he felt his stomach slowly recede from his throat and his sympathy dried up.

Theo did find, upon some more reflection, that the screams were not entirely from terror.

“…it was kinda fun.” Jenny perked up at that. “But! It could have been more fun if you just asked me.”

Theo held out a hand as Jenny deflated. “I get it, I do. But it would have been nice if you asked me, instead of just grabbing on and not letting go. I felt trapped.” Theo paused, just realising that in a way, both of them had been uncomfortably restrained recently.

His eyes widened.

“I’m not suggesting that you- Jenny I’m sorr-“

“No, I’m sorry. I of all people should know this.”

Jenny sighed, sitting down and curling in on herself. She hugged her knees.

Theo bent down next to her, embracing her awkwardly from the side, arms half-wrapped around her shoulders.

“I didn’t even think. I just wanted to share something nice with you.” Jenny mused.

“It was nice, and I appreciate-“ Jenny waved him off.

“Nah, not important right now. Are you okay? You’ve been looking after me so much I didn’t even think to consider that you needed looking after too.”

Theo paused, considering the question. He seriously contemplated it, wondering about how he felt, and what “okay” was, if it meant anything at all.

He fell back on his usual answer. “I’m doing alright.” He paused again. “I think.”

He blinked, glancing up as his eyes felt different. Almost wetter than they had been. “I’m not sure, anymore.”

He took a shaky breath, and looked to his left.

Theo found Jenny staring back, eyes also wet.

Ah. They were both on the verge of crying.

He held on tighter, as they silently wept in each other’s arms.

He rested his head on her shoulder, one thing led to another, and their lips were old friends reunited by chance.

They stayed like that, linked by their breath, until tears no longer visited their cheeks.

They broke from their kiss, and glanced at the door.

Theo wiped the tears from her eyes, and she returned the favour.

Together, they returned from the brink of ‘drunk couple making out after an argument’. Now, they were a drunk couple who made out after an argument, after enough time had passed for them to sober up and make amends.

“Better?” Jenny asked, clearing her throat. Theo knew she wasn’t talking about appearances.

Theo nodded, smiling.

“Let’s do this.”