A/N: I know its been a month or so. Yeah, I'm still alive. I apologize at everybody whom I neglected, lately. I just have so much to do... Anyway, Wishful Thinking is back, Thank you for reading and enjoy...

Chapter 38 - Journey through the Dark

Nima perched in front of a meditating Raistlin. As he had advised, she sat in front of him, facing him, her thighs barely touching his. It was an oddly intimate position, especially considering that fact that Raistlin kept insisting on - that they virtually total strangers. Apart from the meek contact of her knees against his, he didn't touch her. His sitting position looked not very comfortable. The knees bent with the calves tucked under the thighs, he sat on his heels, toes pointed, with the top of his feet flat on the floor. He held his back straight; a motionless hand lay on each thigh. His position was like one of those fighting monks from the high mountains to the far east. Nima had seen some old paintings of bald monks in orange robes in Naranja's wagon. Right now, Raistlin reminded her of them. He didn't twitch a bit. She, on the other hand, seemed to be unable to find a comfortable sitting position and squirmed uneasyly. She tried to copy Raistlin's posture, but after a while her muscles protested.

She couldn't tell what it was that disturbed her so, or why she was nervous again but the sight of his golden face didn't help to calm her. Again, she wanted to lean forward into him and relax in his arms, cuddling against the temptingly soft fabric of his clothing. Likewise it seemed not proper to do so and it would also distract him from his concentration or whatever he did. She knew by now how much he hated being distracted. So she stayed like she was; their physical contact reduced to an absolute minimum.

Their companionship was like a walk on thin ice. The more she was with him the more she had the feeling that every move she made or everything she said could easily elicit an angry reaction from him. Usually she didn't care for other's reactions so much but somehow this was different. He was different. He was the most stunning and complicated human she had ever met. And the most impolite and grumpy one. And she liked him. Was that true? Did she really like him? Could that be? Why? Suddenly he spoke with her and made her nearly jump.

"You are nervous, kender. I told you just to relax. You do the opposite. Why? Usually you kender take nothing for serious, don't tell me this situation frightens you."

No, of course she wasn't frightened. But how could she tell him the truth? That it was certainly not fear what she felt but another kind of tension and that he was the cause? For a moment, she earnestly considered telling him that. But her mouth had already reacted before her brain could come up with a proper answer. Stupid mouth!

"I can't relax if I have to sit like that as if I had a stick for a spine. It's not very comfortable." she said somewhat sullenly.

Is reaction was a sigh. He leaned forward and then she felt the golden arms close around her, drawing her nearer and into the embrace she had imagined before. Nima gave a startled choke and felt her cheeks burn from an inner heat that had sprung up in the moment he had put his arms her. Luckily he couldn't see her face. She had lowered her head quickly enough. Her breath run a little bit faster by now. Something was certainly wrong with the air.

"Don't get any ideas about that." Raistlin hissed while he drew her near. "And keep your fingers out of my pockets or I turn you into a frog."

Under normal circumstances, Nima would have had a witty remark. But normal circumstances didn't include this man's slender fingers folded on her hip, or sitting sideways on his lap, or the peculiar, confusing scent of spices and rose petals. And they didn't include sensing the golden mage's heartbeat next to her cheek either. So she kept silent and tried to adjust to the bewitching situation as best as she could. What did he want her to do? Ah, yes relax. She sagged against him and tried to do just that.

Raistlin frowned. For years he had not been so close to someone. This intimacy with another person felt odd. Though surprisingly not as disturbing as he would have expected. He noticed the kender's breathing frequency increasing a bit. Though she was small, her presence was strangely intensive; he could imagine her little fluttering heart pounding against her ribs. What was wrong with her? She couldn't really be frightened by his explanations. Kender were not capable of feeling fear. Raistlin remembered Tasslehoff still making jokes even when they had faced the black dragon. If it was not fear, then why in the Abyss was she nervous? After a while she relaxed. He suppressed another annoyed sigh.

"Better?" he asked instead, tying to figure out if she was ready now. She muttered an answer.

"Yes. More comfortable."

Her comment was rewarded with an ironic, astounded chuckle.

"Most people wouldn't regard this as a comfortable situation at all. The majority of people would find my mere touch rather disturbing."

"I'm not like most people."

"I know."

Nima was not sure whether this was a compliment or an insult. He had sounded slightly annoyed. She better had not ask him how he had meant the last statement.

"Do you still remember what you have to do?" he asked her in a lecturing tone. Nima nodded.

"Being my usual charming self. And not disturbing you and ignoring everything."

"Brilliant, kender. It was about time."

Nima ignored the taunt in his voice. Now that she had gotten used to the situation a bit, she began to enjoy the strange, fluttering, funny feeling this unexpected closeness gave her. He might do his concentration-thing, or whatever he wanted to do and she would just see what happened. Her usual cheerful mood was fully restored.

"Get on with it, man." she teased. "I don't want to spend the night like this with you clinging to me like that odd Freya-Lady. Boy, she sure was the touchy-feely type!"

Nima smirked up at Raistlin.

"Freya-Lady? Who..." He shook his head, contemplating. "No, I don't want to know. But I wouldn't be the one accusing me of clinging were I you."

Before Nima could answer anything, he silenced her with a low hiss.

"Stop now and be quite. It's about to begin..."

He stiffened a bit and stopped moving. As if he was expecting an ambush or something. And then, it happened just like he had said. First, the temperature fell a bit and a cold breeze roamed the large room. The candles in the lustre flickered and then the light grew dim. Was that what he had meant when he had said he would call the darkness? It was definitely an impressive trick. When most of the candles had expired, she could hear the strange noises he had warned her of. An eerie clicking and and whispering. It reminded her a little on the sound that heaps of dry autumn leaves gave when you shuffled trough them. It made her shiver. Something was coming. But who? Or what? Despite the mage's advice to ignore everything, Nima peered around curiously. But by now the candles had all gone out and the darkness hid the clicking strangers very well. She felt Raistlin tense when the clicking noise began and when it grew louder with each second he seemed to unconsciously draw her closer. Apparently he didn't like the clicking and whispering at all.

The noise increased until it rang in Nima's ears. The things must be very close. She could guess it by the way the mage tensed. The hands that lay on her hip clenched and he pressed her towards him probably without his notice. After a while it dawned to her. He was afraid. Despite his arrogance and sophistication, he feared these beings who came from the dark.

Poor humans. They were always afraid of everything for no reason. However, her companion didn't usually appear to be frightened very easily. These beings must be something special, something really terrifying.

He had ordered her to ignore him as well, but she groped for his cramped hands and stoked them softly. It was not more then just her fingertips caressing the golden skin, a touch as light as a feather.

"Shh..." she whispered against his chest. "They are just loud and annoying, that's all. That's what people say about us kender, too."

She couldn't see it in the darkness but she would have sworn that he had just bent his head a little towards her. Suddenly, there was the tingling sensation of his warm breath skimming over her forehead. Encouraged, she went on.

"We should have a word with them about being so loud. Did you know that the cousin of my great great great great great great great grand auntie-in-law, Uncle Trapspringer had a similar problem once in a particularly nasty jail? It was underground, you know, and there were at least thousand of rats and they were squeaking and weaseling all over the place. And everybody was afraid of them. Especially the female prisoners. They hated rats, says my papa. But Uncle Trapspringer, he just..."

She didn't know how long she discussed Uncle Trapspringer's adventures in the revolting, rotten ratcave of doom when he lowered his head a little and she heard a whisper in her ear.

"You are priceless."

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tbc