Title: Myth-ed but not Forgotten

Sequel to Myth-Use, set at the beginning of Myth-Chief, AU in that Skeeve is in love with Aahz. Makes a bit more sense having read Myth-Use, but doing so isn't necessary. I highly recommend reading Myth-Chief first, because it is a wonderful book and I would hate to spoil the joy of reading it first with my amatuer efforts at the characterisation.

Chapter One

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I wouldn't have understood.

~Dorothy

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So I went away for a while. I couldn't stay, but almost no one else really gets that. Being a phony for the rest of my life? No thank you. And to be honest, I wanted to do something to...impress them. Even though we were partners, they all have this idea of me where I'm an ignorant kid, even Tanda.

Even Aahz.

The thing is, mostly they're good about keeping that away from the surface, but sometimes it rears up and they try to protect me from something I could...I should be able to handle.

How do you approach someone as equals when you know they don't think of you that way?

Yes, I still have this...thing, I guess you could call it. For Aahz, of all people. And it's bad enough I'm part of the reason he lost his powers, but he doesn't seem to care about that for the most part, or at least he doesn't blame me.

He doesn't trust me to have his back when a heavy-hitter comes to play. He trusts that I might be able to weasel us out of things, but not actually be useful in a full out confrontation, and he was right.

My magikal abilities were a joke. I could do a few parlor tricks and talk fast, and I have some impressive friends who were willing to go bat for me, as Tanda would say. But I'm not as "Magnificent" as I'm billed.

So me and Bunny came back to the Inn on Klah and I began studying a mail order course to perk up my nearly nonexistent abilities, and in the meantime, turned into a real jerk, apparently.

Bunny and I just came back to the Bazaar on Deva, me feeling pretty good about things, my skills somewhat more advanced...and nearly got froze out of our old tent when I mentioned I was coming out of retirement. And Aahz wasn't even there, something back on Perv with his mother, the Duchess, and I...

"I can do this, Bunny." I say. She frowns at me. "I can't...you know why I left. If he feels the same way, like I'm trying to step on their toes or something, I don't..."

Her face softens. "I understand, Skeeve." She looks behind us. "Want to head back, then?"

I nod. "For a start." Clearing the air with my friends will hopefully give me some clue for doing the same with Aahz.

When we knock at the door again, the greeting is a bit slower, but business is business and we re-enter quietly.

The others stare at me, Guido and Nunzio standing in the middle of the entry area. Their faces are sort of blank. I hate it. "I didn't realize until Bunny pointed it out to me that you might think I was trying to...take over or cut in on your business. I'm not. I wanted to do answers, not high-stakes retrieval and rescues like you've been doing. I'm sorry I didn't come back before and talk about it, I was waiting to get my classification officially recognized to really start thinking about this, and then I just...did it."

They start to soften. "No way, Skeeve, that's amazing. You've gone up a level in a few months?"

I flush a little. "Uh..."

"Two," Bunny supplies.

Tanda's eyes widen. "Two?!"

I nod, looking at the floor. "It isn't that impressive, really. I was starting at the bottom, the only way to go was up."

She whistled. "Still, that's...really something, Skeeve." She shakes her head. "When did you find out?"

"Two days ago." I may not have been consciously thinking about it but I'd been well prepared to pack up when it had come through. "I thought...I wanted to be useful."

I'd thought we might be able to work together again, but not like before, I didn't say. I hoped I might be a better friend now. "I'm an idiot, never mind." I shouldn't even talk to Aahz at the rate I'm going, I won't have a friendship left to salvage, let alone anything else.

"We'll set up somewhere else. I don't want to cause you guys trouble."

A clamor at that, everyone trying to say something at the same time, even Bunny. "Stop!"

A little magnification of my voice can go a long way, and turning it off gives me just a minute to think about this. "You...don't want me out of here?"

Nobody can hug like a Trollop. Tanda squeezes me and it feels as distractingly nice as ever. (I may be in love with Aahz but that doesn't mean I'm dead.)

"You may be well on your way to being a fantastic magician for real, Handsome, but you can still be a little clueless. Of course we want you here! We were just surprised, and...well, surprised. You understand, right?"

I nod. Being surprised at...everything, for long periods of my life (my introduction to the Bazaar being one of the long high points), I certainly understood needing time to catch up. "So...okay, we were all ready to set up shop, but I think I'd like to wait until we all have a chance to sit down and talk this out like I should've thought to do before."

The others are all nodding, relieved looks on even Guido's face. "That's a great idea, boss."

Bunny looks a little unhappy, but when I catch her eye she smiles at me. She really has been great the last few months, helped me out a lot. I was sort of messed up for a while, the wine and...well, learning about Aahz's family kind of hit me in stages until I really understood what Aahz had lost when Garkin had played his prank. If it wasn't for Bunny, I might still be hiding at the Inn, with no plans to do anything much at all.

"Did Aahz say how long the trip would be?" I ask as unobtrusively as I can. Was he in some kind of trouble? Or rather, his mother? I wasn't very fond of Aahz's mother, but the point is she's his mother, and if she gets hurt, it hurts Aahz. What hurts Aahz hurts me.

Bunny has also forced me to realize what a big sap I am, but that is neither here nor there at the moment.

Chumley shakes his head. "Afraid not, but the old boy didn't seem too concerned, if that eases your mind."

Even now they see right through me.

Considering Tanda is hugging me again for worrying about Aahz, and I'm starting to feel like I didn't lose all my friends...I don't mind at all.

They even let us stay with them in our old rooms while waiting for Aahz to come back so we could discuss my future, and Bunny's by extension. I really did get lucky when Garkin took me in all those years ago.