Disclaimer: I don't own Young Wizards or anyone in it.
It was summer and Dairine was bored. Nita and Kit were out somewhere on a confidential mission, Carmela was at the Crossings doing something, Mehrnaz was earthquake wrestling, and even Darryl was on errantry. After a few hours of research Dairine decided to visit Tom and Carl. They might have an assignment.
"Tom? Carl? Hellooooo?"
"Dairine?" Tom came around the corner, "do you need anything?"
"Tom, everyone I know is busy. I want to be put on errantry!"
Tom laughed, "You're put on errantry because you are the answer to a problem, not because you're bored. How is your training coming along?"
"Training?" Dairine was briefly surprised.
"With Nelaid," Tom clarified.
"Even worse than before! Some days, I work with Roshaun, and he just does everything and makes me feel stupid while he's at it, then on the days I'm not working with him, he comes in and watches so that he can tell me everything I've done wrong at the end. It's infuriating!"
"How often are you going up there?" Tom asked.
"Tops 3-4 days a week, though it's usually 2. Why do you ask?"
Tom laughed, "I was wondering how much energy you were using, but you have a subsidized gate, don't you?"
"Yes, and that gives me the perfect idea of what to do! I'm going to go annoy Roshaun! Thanks Tom!"
Dairine left before he had time to object.
Strictly speaking, there were two gates to Wellakh, and both were subsidized. The first gate was the original, from the flower shop to a private study not far from the simulation room. The second was from Dairine's basement to Roshaun's room. It was mounted where Dairine had seen the worldgate when she visited his Timeheart. This gate was for purely Roshaun and Dairine's use. Being partners, it was sometimes necessary to consult one another.
It was this gate that Dairine chose to use. But first she changed into Wellakhit wear. The outfit was green and flowing like most of the Wellakhit wear, but this was more transparent than her usual style. The top started out solid green, but after covering everything it needed to cover, was pretty much transparent. The capri style pants were the same, except more slowly fading than the top was. Dairine briefly considered changing, but Lady Miril had given it to her and asked her to wear it, so she should probably wear it. She added the final touch, the large emerald, and headed for the basement.
Nearly an instant later, she arrived in Roshaun's bedroom. He had heard the incoming worldgating and was rapidly putting away some papers. She noted that as interesting and for pursuing later.
He shoved the rest of the papers into the claudication. "Did we have a meeting arranged?" Roshaun asked. He looked up at her. Dairine was pleased to see a trace of shock run across his face when he saw her ensemble.
"I need to make an appointment to see my partner?" Dairine was incredulous.
"I am a very busy person."
"Ah yes. I saw that when I got here. What was that?"
"Something," said Roshaun evasively.
Dairine rolled her eyes.
Roshaun was busy working on the perfect way to arrange the invites to the next festival and one for Dairine in particular, when he heard the sound of an incoming worldgating. Of all the times she could have chosen to come! Roshaun thought.
He quickly shoved all his drafts of letters and speeches into his claudication. Now she wouldn't be able to read them.
"Did we have a meeting arranged?" he asked, raising his gaze to her.
He was shocked to see her wearing one of Wellakh's more transparent forms of clothing. How she had even found that particular item was a mystery to him. Then he realized it was probably Lady Miril's doing. She loved Dairine and was constantly sending him small signals of how she thought Roshaun should notice Dairine. Like he hadn't already
"I need to make an appointment to see my partner?" came Dairine's cheeky reply.
"I am a very busy person," Roshaun justified.
"Ah yes. I saw that when I got here. What was that?" Dairine had that glint in her eye.
"Something," said Roshaun, just to annoy her.
Dairine rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, don't get your hair in a twist. I'll make an appointment next time," Dairine told him sarcastically, "but for now these'll have to do."
She was holding, outstretched, a handful of lollipops. He accepted them gratefully. How could he not when it's his favorite Earthen food and it's Dairine who is bringing them? She climbs onto the bed next to him, laying on her back and looking up at him.
"So why did you come then?"
"Because I was bored. Everyone who is even remotely interesting on Earth is busy. I can't even blackmail Nita from last night because she and Kit were sent off on a confidential mission before I woke up!"
"Blackmail?" Roshaun was a bit worried. The term blackmail does not seem particularly friendly.
"It's where one person has something over another person, and they use that to get what they want. Say, I had found out one of your biggest secrets, and in order for me to not tell anyone you would have to give me money, or perform a task. That sort of a thing," Dairine sounded way too excited about this.
"And what is your blackmail?" Roshaun inquired, not entirely sure he wants to know.
Dairine grins a wicked grin, "I caught them making out on tape."
Roshaun is not entirely clear on what that means, but understands the gist of it. He looks down at her, spread across his bed. Her clothing is not making this easy for him. Why when there is always some sort of clothing problem is Dairine always wearing green? First the green dress, then that casual pair of Wellakhit clothes that she had somehow started on fire while working with the simulator, and now these clothes. Lady Miril needed to realize that he knew Dairine was a girl and lay off of the clothes that were overly exaggerated shape hugging, like this particular outfit. Then Roshaun realized she might be able to hear him, and he told himself to deal with this later.
"You have any plans for the immediate future?" Dairine asked Roshaun. Unfortunately, this was a very confusing statement. How immediate was this future?
"Let me phrase that differently. How would you like to watch that last Star Wars movie with me?"
Inwardly, he groaned. The Star Wars movies were not really his style, but Dairine loved them, so he had put up with watching them. And anyways, it was a nice way to spend time together without them fighting.
"Sure. Let's watch it."
"Oh yay!" Dairine immediately rolled over onto her stomach and called for Spot.
She looked up at him, "well are you going to lay down? I don't bite unless I'm angry."
Roshaun suppressed a smile at the last words, "but why are you lying like that? Shouldn't you keep your feet away from the pillows?"
Dairine laughed, "it's practically a movie watching in bed requirement to lay like this." She propped her head up onto her hands.
Roshaun followed suit, even though his legs were much longer, and his feet hit the bed frame. It really was quite comfortable, lying here preparing to watch a movie with his wizardry partner. So of course the moment was interrupted by a knock.
"We are constantly interrupted," Dairine laughed, "go ahead and deal with whatever needs to be done."
"Enter!" yelled Roshaun.
A serving girl entered, "Sunlord, the Sunlord-That-Was requests your presence at a formal dinner. You were also invited, Miss."
Dairine nodded in the respectful way one does to servants of the castle, acknowledging that she has heard and understood, "at what time should the Guarantor and I be expected to arrive?"
"At hashash, Miss."
"That should give us plenty of time, then," Roshaun said to Dairine.
She gave him an odd look and said to the servant, "thank you. You are dismissed."
"We can watch the movie later," Dairine said, closing Spot's screen. "Those formal dinners are a pain to get ready for."
"You could just go like that, I know you wish to."
"I do, but that's not fair to you."
Roshaun gave her a perplexed look.
"You're their king, Roshaun. Everything you do is watched by them. And I, being an alien friend of yours, am watched particularly closely. If I don't do something correctly, that reflects badly upon you as well."
In that moment Roshaun realized that all these appearances, all these dinners she went to with only minimal complaint, were for him. Of course, she was, at the moment, oblivious to his thoughts and was putting back on the shoes she had rid herself of. Roshaun wanted to thank her, but wasn't sure how to.
"Well then, I shall see you at dinner, Sunlord," Dairine teased him.
Then she was gone, probably to the room she used while on Wellakh to keep her outfits and change in. That left him to get ready for a rather large formal dinner by the sound of it. He only had gotten halfway dressed when there was another knock on his door. Luckily, he was behind his changing screen.
"Enter!" he yelled.
The door opened, then closed as Roshaun put on his shirt.
He walked out, "hello, father."
This could not be good. Nelaid almost never made room calls. Nonetheless, Roshaun fastened his shirt and waited for Nelaid to say something.
"First off, I come under your mother's request," Nelaid says, and Roshaun is a bit worried, "Roshaun, you are spending more and more increased periods of time with Dhairine."
So this was about Dairine, then. Roshaun proceeded carefully, "she is my partner in wizardry." He shrugged, "of course I spend time with her."
Nelaid gave him a look, "Roshaun, you sit through every training session I have with her."
"Well," Roshaun began.
"You have a world gate to her house in your room."
"Because we're partners!"
"But the fact of the matter is that your mother adores Dhairine. She always wanted a daughter. We would both be fine, happy even, if you stopped denying your feelings for each other and actually accepted them. I've talked with Harry, and he is not really thrilled with his daughter being involved with anyone, but prefers you should there be someone. You will eventually need a queen Roshaun. Maybe Wellakh would be unhappy, but they would be with anyone you chose, so you should choose someone who makes you happy," and with that Nelaid left.
Roshaun flopped onto his bed in the inelegant way Dairine usually did when she was frustrated. He could still smell her scent where she had been laying. He breathed it in. So their parents had had secret conversations about him and Dairine. Was it really that obvious how he felt about her? Then, he laughed at himself. Here he was on the bed, breathing in her smell asking himself if it was obvious he liked her.
Roshaun shook his head. There was one person Nelaid had discounted, Dairine herself. He made his way to her room to pick her up for dinner.