(No surprises - Juliana Chahayed)

None of us dared to speak as the thought drifted through our breaths, passed around our lungs in whirls and pounded with our heartbeats. Ominis' shoulders heaved, collarbones pressing against his shirt, eyes rimmed red, shaking fingers rubbing absentmindedly over the edge of the glass, lips curled up into a hesitant smile.

Sebastian and I had simultaneously brought our own bottles down to our sides.

The silence stretched between the folds of our clothes, tossed between our teeth and brushed across our noses. Ominis clenched his jaw and took a big breath, taking a moment to swallow his uneven thoughts before speaking.

"Alright. I am as prepared as I should ever will be, let's drink." 

Ominis tipped the bottle up once more but Sebastian darted forward, catching Ominis' wrist in his hand.

"Wait. We- we'll let you go first... should this work... we- I want you to see us as us..."

The thought crushed my throat.

Ominis' face scrunched though his smile still tugged at his lips. He nodded slowly and brought the bottle back to his mouth.

The liquid disappeared quickly.

Sebastian didn't move.

Ominis gagged.

Sebastian raised a wand, flicking it once and Ominis' clothes dropped in a heap at his feet, though he wasn't naked. In their place were flitting sparkles of magic that faded to a deep green overcoat, thick blue bow and white undershirt just beneath a grey vest, striped trousers and shiny black shoes.

His body shifted and turned, crushed against the otherwise frozen silence for what felt an eternity until slowly, 

ever so slowly, 

yet ever so suddenly,

Headmaster Black.

Headmaster Black?

The confusion flitted in my mind for only a moment as the man in front of us righted himself, blinking rapidly through the room.

"Oh!"

He slammed his eyes shut, palms slapped over his lids and arms shaking harshly.

It was an odd thing, seeing a man so commonly obtuse in nature, now fragile and demeanor that of one of my closest friends.

Sebastian pressed closer, gently raising his hands to Black- Ominis' wrists and wrapping his fingers around them gently. He didn't pull but instead kept the warmth of his touch close, reassuring. He cast a quick, worried glance back to me, confirming the oddity of the situation was not lost to him either. 

"Ominis. Are you alright?"

"I-I- it was so bright. I do- don't think I can do it." His stuttered voice harsh and clipped.

Sebastian's voice wrapped blankets over our shoulders. "We're right here Ominis. Take your time. We're right here."

Though his hands shook, he slowly peeled them away from his face, Sebastian cradling them in his own.

Ominis' lids were still closed tightly though his breathing slowly steadied.

In through his mouth

out through his nose

in, two, three,

out, two, three,

in, two, three,

out, two, three.

One last breath. 

One more deep sigh.

Ominis blinked slowly, lashes pressed inwards again and again, his eyes down towards his hands.

To Sebastian's hands.

He took a sharp breath in, lips curved up and nostrils flaring as his body was immediately wracked with a sob.

His bottom lip quivered.

His brows rumpled.

"I-"

Slowly, his eyes drifted across Sebastian's fingers wrapped around his wrists, up over the fabric of his sleeves, across his chest, the buttons, the skin of his neck,

up to his face.

His eyes traced over the thick brown waves, the stretch of freckled galaxies on his cheeks and nose, the crinkles next to his eyes as Sebastian smiled, tears welling at the edges.

Ominis seemed to have stopped breathing though his grin was wide, his own tears spilling through his scrunched features.

I watched his eyes dart between Sebastian's and Sebastian chuckled uneasily.

"...well?"

"I-" He swallowed. "...you..." 

It came out choked.

A little laugh.

"Me."

The two grinned like idiots, my heart flipped over the edge of my ribs.

"You are... terribly unsightly Sebastian." 

I didn't know it was possible for his grin to get any bigger, but there it was.

Sebastian's tears tumbled across his cheeks as he laughed.

"Taking in to account that I am the only person you have ever seen, I don't believe that's entirely fair."

Ominis tugged Sebastian to his chest, hugging him tightly and though Sebastian froze for a second out of what I imagined to be a natural response to any sort of Headmaster Black interaction, he pulled his own arms around and tipped his nose to his shoulder.

 Ominis' eyes landed on me and he let out another sharp breath.

"Atley."

My lip quirked.

I had never seen eyes dance as his did, 

back and forth

back and forth

back

and forth,

soaking it all in.

I could have sworn there was something deep beneath the surface of his pupils that was innately Ominis.

Perfectly Ominis.

Sebastian stepped away, watching us both through warm eyes of his own.

My only wish was that we could see this moment as him. 

As our Ominis Gaunt. 

HIS eyes on us.

Though this would have to be enough.

"Atley." He repeated and I ducked quickly into his outstretched arms.

The hug lasted only around thirty seconds before he was pushing me out away from his body, eyes tracing over my face, grinning wildly, then back to Sebastian's, then back to mine.

They seemed to brush a moment longer over Sebastian before he turned his attention back to me, smile dropping slowly though his brows rose in the center and more tears fogged his pupils.

"Atley darling, you- you are as delicate as your voice, as captivating as I ever could have imagined..."

His gaze flicked back to Sebastian who had come to stand at my back, fingers threaded through mine.

Ominis eyes wound around them.

His lips twitched.

"And it is explicitly clear to me now just how... ideally suited you two are for each other."

He caught my eye and something glistened just at the edge.

"So that's it then? You can properly see?" Sebastian's voice was still breathy.

"It- it-. How do I state this..." His eyes wandered around the room as he spoke. 

Across walls, down shutters, over our boots, through the window and stopping just there.

"I have always been able to see the slightest bits of light and shadow, though nothing inherently helpful... but this..." 

He swept an arm out towards the slightly crystalized panes of the window. 

"...everything is a bit fuzzy around the edges, for lack of an better descriptor. I don't believe I am seeing things entirely clear. Shapes, small bits of information seem to be caught just somewhere at the edge of my mind... but... oh the colors..." His lip trembled again.

Sebastian squeezed my hand tightly.

The salt of my tears slid over my chin, dipping down to my neck and I wiped them briskly away.

Ominis raised a finger, pointing towards my chest.

"What... is that... what red looks like?"

Sebastian appeared to be blushing again, his laugh gentle and hearty.

"No thats uh- that's green. That's my sweater actually."

Ominis dropped his hand and shook his head, smiling to our faces.

"Of course it is. And... and..." His eyes went wide.

His body darted around and around, eyes to the ground. He nearly dove for his pile of clothes, dipping his hands quickly into the pockets as Sebastian and I watched through furrowed brows.

My heart crumpled happily as Ominis pulled the tintype from his pocket.

Sebastian's hiccuped breath beside me was enough to hurl another round of tears from my eyes.

Ominis Gaunt was sat cross legged in the middle of the floor, thumbs rubbing over the edges of the portrait, eyes over every inch of our dancing figures there.

After a few minutes of memorable silence, he peeked back up to Sebastian, lip quirked to the side. 

"You kissed her?"

Sebastian wiped the tears from his cheeks as he laughed.

"That I did."