Lovespell
A/N: This is my first YW story, and I haven't read the series in a while, so please be kind. It's set between Wizards at War and A Wizard of Mars, however Roshaun has been found again. I will post a story later on my take on what happened to him after the Battle, once I get LS done.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. All character © Diane Duane. That's all there is to it.
Chapter One: Nita's Hidden Feelings
BOOM! The being created by the Lone Power combusted with the effects of the young wizard's blaster spell. From far away, the LP roared in anguish. For Juanita Callahan, it was a job well done.
The auburn-haired girl rested her hands on her knees, panting. It had been a tough assignment, and even the most minor wizardry made the caster a bit winded. This mission had left Nita exhausted.
Gasping, the wizard raised herself to her full height, realizing she had to get out of there soon before LP had another chance to get at her. Although she'd completed the mission Tom and Carl, her neighborhood's local Seniors, had suggested she attempt, the Power didn't tend to play by the rules stated in the manual carried around by every practicing wizard.
Speaking of the manual…I better get home and check if I have a message from Kit. If the imminent threat of the Lone Power wasn't enough to shake Nita out of her exhaustion, the thought of her wizardry partner, Christopher "Kit" Rodriguez was. Nita had liked Kit for what seemed to be ages, but she could never get even the slightest clue about how he felt about her.
Fingering the silver charm bracelet that was actually a spell-storing matrix (and the device that had kept her from totally knocking herself out using that blaster charm,) Nita's hands found a silver disk engraved with the code GC25. Muttering a few words in the Speech used by wizards to cast their spells, Nita disappeared from the Lone Power's world with a slight pop.
All was fairly quiet at Platform 25 of Grand Central Station in New York City, New York. It was Sunday, after all. Few people needed to use the train. This fact was convenient for Nita—for she knew something most people didn't. Platform 25 of Grand Central was actually a gate used by wizards for the kind of long-distance transport not easily accomplished by a simple spell. So when the teenager suddenly appeared and landed ungracefully on the railroad track below, she didn't have to worry about a train squishing her flat within the next few minutes.
A slim black cat slunk around the corner and eyed Nita suspiciously. "Can it, Rhiow. I was on a mission," she shot before the annoying feline who ran the Grand Central gate. Rhiow just yawned and glared sullenly at Nita with her huge green eyes. The wizard gave a friendly glare back before hurrying onward to her home.
A quick transport spell later, and Nita was in the backyard of a large yellow house. Seeing a pair of silhouettes on the window of her sister's room, the girl realized now would not be a good time to disturb her sister. Ever since she'd rescued her alien boyfriend Roshaun from Lone Power's grasp, Dairine Callahan, the two had spent almost every minute together. It irked Nita that thirteen-year-old Dairine would have a boyfriend when her sixteen-year old sister (A/N: I forgot the real difference in their ages. Can anyone remind me?) was just longing after a guy…but, no time to dwell on that.
Plunking herself down under her buddy Liused the rowan tree, Nita grasped hold of the imaginary "zipper" floating in the space-time in front of her. Opening the personal claudication she kept with her at all times, the teenage wiz pulled out a dirty red book entitled "So You Want to Be a Wizard".
It was Nita's wizarding manual, which contained not only a directory of all the wizards in the worlds, information on almost every aspect of wizardry, and a Speech dictionary, but also the wizardly version of IM. At the back of the book was a blank page where wizards unable to thought-speak could contact each other quickly.
Nita and her partner/crush Kit had been able to thought-speak once—but no longer. Kit had become so much more detached and stoic since starting high school, and had started blocking all but his surface thoughts. Now Nita couldn't even read his opinion on the weather, let alone talk to him about it.
:No new messages: the manual page read. Nita groaned, upset. A while ago, she'd been certain that the male wizard's feelings matched her own—but now he was becoming so distant. Sure, he still liked her as a friend—but it hurt. And she couldn't tell him. She was hideously nervous.
"Kit hasn't messaged you declaring his undying affection yet?" a light, teasing voice wanted to know. Nita quickly snapped her manual shut and looked up, to see the tall, weedy frame of her redheaded wizard sister, Dairine Callahan.
"I am thinking this boy infuriates you to no end," said another voice, smooth and cultured. Roshaun ke Nelaid am Seriv am Teliuve am…….whatever…….King of the planet Wellakh, Guarantor of the Sun, accomplished wizard and boyfriend to her sister, stood next to Dairine, one hand lightly on her shoulder. "More than me, I should think,"
Nita laughed—a fake, hollow sound—at her friend. "Geez, Ro, no kid could ever annoy me more than you!"
The king laughed too, the ethereal light that had surrounded him since his rescue shimmering at the sound. "Good, good. That is the Nita I know! Cynical, obsessed…"
"I am NOT obsessed! I don't even like Kit!" she lied, knowing it was futile. Dari and Ro both knew, even if they pretended to believe her denials.
"Denial, Neets, denial," It was Dairine who spoke, "If you like him, just go out and tell him, for Powers' sake!"
"I don't. I'd rather have him as a friend," she replied scathingly, but inside she was thinking, not, not, not. I so wish I was as brave as Dari about it, and could just tell him. Or get him to admit how he feels……even if he doesn't like me……
:She's lost in daydreams of young Christopher. I am thinking we two should leave her to her fantasy: said a voice in Dairine's mind. Turning toward her boyfriend and wizardry partner, the younger Callahan sister replied, :Of course.: She felt him reach for her with a mental "hand," and she took it. A minute later, his physical hand followed, and the couple walked quietly inside, leaving Nita to dream.
Chapter Two: As a Friend
It was Monday, and a tough, boring school day was nearly over for Nita. It was last period, and in an act of surprising kindness, the teachers had let them hang around outside for the last twenty minutes of school.
Her sharp eyes soon picked out a short Hispanic boy sitting alone on a bench reading a faded red book (a wizard's manual like her own). Kit! her mind thought, just as a familiar warm, tight feeling entered her chest. She tried not to look too happy as she plopped down beside her wizardry partner-cum-best friend-cum-obsessed-over crush.
"Hiya, Kit. Have a nice weekend?" she asked, trying to sound calm. She was certain she'd failed miserably—that he'd heard something in her voice she was desperately trying to hide……
Obviously, he hadn't noticed. "Yeah, it was nice."
"I took that assignment where one of the LP's constructs was ravaging one of the test worlds."
"Complete it?"
"Yes."
"Good job."
"Grrr, Kit, why are you being so….untalkative? I might just have to resort to annoying you." Nita threatened.
"You can't annoy me, Neets. I'm too stoic for you," the Hispanic wizard replied. There was a slight hint of teasing in his voice—but no more. Nita's heart fell a couple inches.
However, she had to keep her calm, friendly façade. So she made good on her threat.
"I'm bo-ored," she said in a singsong voice.
"That's nice," he replied, still absorbed in reading something in his manual.
Nita smiled slyly to herself. She poked Kit, right on the top of the arm near his shoulder. "Now I'm not." She withdrew her finger. "Now I am".
No response. Kit's eyes continued traveling over the page, his body remained unmoving. Nita sighed in frustration, and began to poke him.
Repeatedly. She continued poking him for almost a minute—yet he still didn't respond.
"Aren't I annoying you?"
Her friend finally put down his book and turned to her. "Juanita Callahan, I've told you a million times—you can't annoy me. You're just not the annoying type," He paused. She must have looked upset, because he continued, "Few people can. Don't feel too bad."
Annoyed with his nonchalant reaction, she slapped him. Hard. It hurt her to do it, but she just had to pretend to be friendly.
Kit still didn't move. "Was that supposed to hurt?" he asked.
"Yes!" she replied, angrily, "You infuriate me, Kit! What with all this being stoic and stuff!"
Kit looked at her. His eyes were serious, but Nita could see no emotion other than mild friendliness, no matter how deeply she looked. "I'm just good at hiding my emotions," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Well……" Nita replied haltingly, wondering how to phrase this subtly enough, "It makes it hard for a person to know if you like them or hate them."
Kit turned his eyes back to his book, not exactly ignoring her, but not exactly acknowledging her, either. "I like you as a friend. Is that good?"
"Yes," she lied. On the inside, she was wishing the 'as a friend' part would die ten thousand gruesome deaths.