"Baz," he meets the other man's gaze, his voice dripping with annoyance. His line of sight comes to rest on another person a few steps behind Baz. "And I see your little shadow is with you as always." He addresses the other person, "Hello, Valentine."
The third party in question just scowls back at him.
"Ah, charming as usual," he deadpans.
"Now, now, no teasing my beloved little student," Baz wags a finger at him in mock admonishment, "only I get to do that. Isn't that right, Valentine?"
"No." Her scowl deepens.
"Hm. Seems like your 'beloved' student doesn't agree with you."
"She's just joking."
"Doesn't look like that to me."
"Nonsense. She loves it."
"Why do I have trouble believing that?" He turns towards Valentine, "Is this true?"
"Don't pay any mind to what she tells him," Baz interrupts before she even gets a chance to open her mouth. "She'll just deny it, but you know how moody teenagers are."
"Both of you shut up, oh my god!" Valentine crosses her arms and turns her face away in annoyance. "You're both horrible," she huffs and turns to walk away, "Honestly, who can put up with you? I'll be waiting in the common room if you actually need me, old man," she calls out to Baz behind her back.
"See? What'd I tell you about teenagers?"
"I heard that!"
"So moody." Baz clicks his tongue, watching her retreating back. "Now," he turns his attention back to Kit, "I heard the boss called you in." Baz gives him a onceover, "But from what I can see I assume it went badly."
He grunts , "'Badly' is an understatement."
Baz walks up to him so they're standing next to each other, their shoulders almost brushing. "Soooo," he nudges him with an elbow, "tell me, what happened? What did you have to do to piss off my sister so badly she tried to drown you?"
He really does not want to talk about it.
"Don't you have anything better to do besides bothering me? Like, oh, I don't know, literally anything else?"
"Haha. No. Now spill the beans."
He sighs, for maybe the hundredth time today. He knows firsthand just how stubborn Baz can be when he focuses on something, and he knows he'll eventually get the story out of him one way or another; a trait he shares very closely with the Director. Damn siblings and their accursed bull-headedness!
Might as well get it over with then, he thinks. "For the record, she did not try to drown me." He pauses. "I don't think so." Pause. "At least not on purpose!"
Baz hums, nodding sagely, walking to stand a few steps in front of him. "That's good. You're not on her bad side yet." He spins on his heel suddenly so he's facing Kit again, grinning, "You get to live to see another day!"
"That isn't as comforting as you seem to think it is."
"Ah?" He seems to take note of Kit's current state again. "...huh. Well, I suppose," he taps his chin twice. "Come here," he beckons him over.
Kit shuffles reluctantly towards him.
He's not prepared for Baz to suddenly sling an arm across his shoulders and draw him in. Like this, they're so close their bodies are pressed completely against each other in an awkward position. He doesn't think this can be any more comfortable for Baz than it is for him.
"What-" he starts to question, before he feels Baz's body temperature increasing. Even through all the layers of clothing separating them it's almost scorching. But he can also feel his clothes start to dry, the water evaporating into the air.
After a few seconds, Baz lets go of him. "There. All done," he brushes off some nonexistent dust from his shoulder.
"Don't," he slaps his hand away, "do that again without warning me first." Even though he had seen Baz dry himself in the same way, it wasn't like he had ever experienced it before. The first few times he had tried it, Kit remembers him simply bursting into flames; it was definitely a good thing he was (mostly) fireproof. Though that was when he had yet to grasp a fine control over his powers. But through (a lot of) trial and error he had managed to perfect the technique. He frowns as a thought occurs to him. "Had you ever even tried doing that before?"
"Nope. Congratulations, you're the first person to experience it," he winks. "You're lucky I got it on my first try."
His frown deepens. He would rather not think about the possibility of Baz accidentally setting him on fire.
Baz laughs, apparently unbothered by his reaction. "You're welcome."
"Whatever."
"Now are you going to tell me what's bothering you?"
"..."
He smacks his forehead. He had completely forgotten about the shapeshifter!