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[Mikleo rolls his eyes playfully at that.]

Oh, yeah?

[He shivers a little and seriously curses that his neck is so sensitive. Ugh. Mikleo misses the protection of his high collars. Still, he'll return the kiss. The water seraph cradles the side of Sorey's head, rubbing his thumb gently along his jawline. He breaks it after a moment to whisper, teasingly:]

I wouldn't call this 'studying,' you know.

Mm-hmm.

[His lashes flutter as Mikleo breaks the kiss, but once his eyes are on Mikleo he doesn't look away.]

Oh, it's totally educational. Today's lesson? Item synthesis, lesson two.

[He captures Mikleo's bottom lip between his own, giving it a fairly tender nibble treatment.]

'Mana exchange is the foundation of item synthesis. It acts as a catalyst that activates the hidden abilities in each reagent...'

[Mikleo shivers and hums a little at the nibble treatment. Sorey's response, however, gets a raised eyebrow from him. His unimpressed look is somewhat ruined by the amusement in his eyes.]

Uh-huh. Something we've experienced already.

[The seraph kisses the corner of his mouth.]

Pretty sure that's not on the test coming up, Sorey.

[He chuckles against Mikleo's cheek.]

Gonna give me a pop quiz?

[Okay, okay. Thinking hard about this.]

'Higher level curative spells have a chance of applying a beneficial effect to the target, occasionally making them more resistant to poison,' uh... [Give him a second.] '... sleep, or other status effects. However, this is only a brief immunity to one status effect, so Kings with the proper specialization are especially valued in this area.'

See? I was paying attention.

[Mikleo huffs in amusement.]

Why not?

[Ah, yes, Sorey's impressive memory. Honestly, that's not even a rib. He's always been impressed by just how much his partner can memorize and retain.]

Maybe, but that's just one question answered. [The seraph seems to contemplate something before kissing Sorey's lips.] How's this? Every question you get right, I'll give you a kiss or something nice. Every question you get wrong, you don't get anything until you get it right.

[It's a perfect blend of studying and being stupid teenage boyfriends, right?]

Mm...

[Yes, this is definitely an effective study tool. Though, really, the main thing here is mana exchange, so cuddling and kissing is probably the best thing they can do right now. Well. One of them.

He really is enjoying this, though. Despite the threat of the war, it's fun going to school like normal people. He's always kind of wondered what it was like, and though he's pretty sure magic school isn't a thing in Glenwood, he's absolutely fine with it.]

I'm game.

[Mikleo smirks a little.]

Somehow, I thought you would.

[He shifts to be more comfortable as he curls up against Sorey's side.]

We'll start with an easy question. Can charm magic be used against dungeon creatures? Why?

Ah, nope.

[He looked into charm magic specifically because Mikleo has it, and Mikleo was worried about it. The more Sorey understands it, the better he can reassure his partner that he isn't falling victim to it. Or something. Sorey also knows a lot about water magic at home for similar reasons.]

Charm magic only works on things that have mana, and dungeon monsters don't have any.

[Awww yeah he's on track for kisses.]

Correct.

[Frankly, Mikleo's still worried about it. However, Sorey's reassurances have been helping him when it comes up.

He leans over and gives the brunet a kiss, as promised. It's just on the cheek this time.]

Another easy one, I'm sure, but describe the different types of barrier magic.

[That's fine-- he's absolutely beaming at the cheek-kiss. It's chaste and cute, and he's not gonna say no to any kind of affection, okay.]

The traditional barrier nullifies either a magic or physical attack, but it also lets attacks from your side pass through. Then there's another more specific kind that restricts movement-- basically acting as a specialized trap or cage.

Right.

[Mikleo takes one of Sorey's hands and kisses the back of it. It's totally payback for the countless times his partner has been a romantic sap to him.]

Alright, something a little trickier. Describe the tiers spells are categorized in.

[Sorey isn't expecting that, but he's delighted; he laughs and blushes.]

Basic, uh... intermediate, advanced, and master?

[Revenge: successful.]

Yes, but now tell me how spells are classified into those tiers.

[Mikleo will just casually not let go of his hand at this point.]

Uh... [Okay, now we're getting into advanced stuff here.] They're classified by the number of targets and range. Lower spells have one target and a very short range, while the advanced ones have a very distant range, multiple targets, and the highest chance of a status effect. And only certain ranks can use the advanced ones.

Very good.

[That deserves two kisses to Sorey's lips, as Mikleo's feeling generous after an involved question like that.]

Last one for today. What are the elements and who can use elemental magic?

[He hums happily as he's kissed, and it's clear when Mikleo pulls away that Sorey wants more. Dang it.]

Ah, tricky. All of the ranks can use basic elemental magic, though only Queens can use the highest level, and Pawns and Knights aren't very good with magic in general. As for the elements...

[Give him a moment. There's more than five, so he has to actually think about it.]

Fire, water, earth, wind, lightning... [void? WAIT NO REMEMBER THE CHART] holy and shadow. I think. [...] Or was it dark? Same thing.

Correct. And it's dark. Remember that. You know the teacher will dock you a point if you put shadow instead.

[Sometimes, Sorey's too easy to read. Still, Mikleo decides to indulge him by giving him two more kisses to his lips. Not that he'll really complain as he does like kissing him, too.]

Mm, think you'll be ready for the test?

Ugh, you're right. She called me out on it in class once. [He's about to groan, but Mikleo kisses him again and he sorta forgets what he was complaining about.

A test? Oh, right.]

I think so. I bet you'll be at the top of the class, though.

[The water seraph huffs in amusement at that.]

I'm not surprised she did. Shadow and dark are two different things.

[He shakes his head.]

I don't know about that, but I'll admit it's kinda fun to be competitive academically. Besides, you have an equally likely chance of getting top marks.

Are you sure they're that different? [He really can't wrap his brain around it.] There's a difference between wind and lightning, but dark and shadow?

[He nuzzles into Mikleo's neck without warning.]

You're more of a perfectionist, though.

It's like how holy isn't the same thing as light. 'Shadow' is just one part of the dark element, just as 'light' is one part of the holy element.

[Mikleo shivers slightly, but hums softly in content at the nuzzle. Jeez, someone needs to warn a guy before he attacks his neck like that!]

Sure, but your memory is more impressive...for spitting out random trivia and entire passages of written text.

[Oh, yeah, he went there.]

Hmm... I guess that makes sense. It's part of it but not the whole thing.

[Pfft, warning him would take the fun out of it. Sorey makes an offended noise at that next remark, however, and nips at Mikleo's ear in revenge.]

Hey, you can't deny it's effective.

[Mikleo inhales sharply at that and glares at him, though there's no real heat in it.]

Yeah, until you consider the fact that you forget that you need to eat.

[He retaliates with nipping Sorey's ear, too. Because they are both actual children.]

[He holds up a finger like he's about to argue, and then he stops. Mikleo has a point.]

But books are so interesting! [Then the seraph is biting his ear back, and he yelps and laughs.] Ah, hey--!!

You're the one who decided to bite my ear first, so don't give me that.

[Huffs!!!]

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