Chapter Nine
(A/N: Ummm…I forgot what I was going to say. Never mind.)
Disclaimer: Arilyn, Danilo, Khelben, and Laeral aren't mine. Neither is Gar and Alea, or the Heroes of the Lance, or Raistlin. No profit, yada yada yada.
The people in the room took Nire's exclamation as one of horror and shock, and were quick to reassure her that she was safe. Luckily, she got a response from Jander.
Don't worry about me. Stay wherever you are. I don't want you to get hurt.
Even though Nire was worried as hell, and it was daytime, she did as he said. Whatever happened for the rest of the time she was in the residence, she did not really remember, except that she said she would come back and try to teach Khelben some vestiges of telepathy. For some reason, she liked the mage. In fact, she liked all the people in these worlds better than in her own. After a reasonable time had passed, and she could leave, she also remembered Arilyn walking her out.
"You knew," the half-elf accused her outside.
"Of course I did," Nire returned hotly. "How stupid do you think I am?"
"You associate willingly with evil." Arilyn's face was a mix of disbelief, anger, and shock.
Nire, of course, laughed scornfully. "Jander? Evil? That's about as far from the truth as you can get. You are probably more evil than him."
"That makes you evil for not getting rid of him." Nire was pretty sure Arilyn hadn't heard a word she had just said.
"I'm not denying that I'm evil. Evil and immoral, I am. To me, nothing is wrong as long as you don't get caught. But Jander? Evil? And me evil for not killing him? Good Lord, at times he refuses to be even seen with me, after I've robbed certain people and such." Okay, so this was not strictly the truth, she hadn't exactly robbed anyone that he knew about, but it was still a good example. Nire then popped out before the half-elf could say another word.
Arilyn went back upstairs to the rest of the family. "She knew," was the first thing he said.
"Knew what?" Danilo asked.
"That the elf was a vampire." Her face was confused, but hardened when she added, "I knew there would be something bad about him."
Danilo took her in his arms. "What else did she say?"
"That he was not evil, and when I accused her of being evil," she had the good grace to blush slightly at that, "she laughed and said that was undeniable. Apparently, one of her mottos is 'nothing is wrong as long as you don't get caught'."
The four people just looked at each other.
* * * * *
Nire worried and fretted fort he rest of the day, wandering her house aimlessly. She was kind of surprised at just how worried she was. After all, this was the girl who didn't give a shit about anything or anyone. The very instant she judged it dark enough, she began searching telepathically for Jander. It was hard to find him - he had all his shields up, and was basically blocking her. She really had to work to find him, then gated to the hilltop he was on.
The vampire elf sat bathed in the light of the full moon that had risen early, staring over a valley at nothing, his eyes glazed over.
"Go away Nire," he immediately said as she stepped out of the gate. To her, he sounded tired and defeated.
"Uh-uh."
Perhaps he could sense she was going to be difficult. "Damn it, Nire! I want to be alone right now. Will you please leave."
"Now think back. When was the last time you left when I told you to? Hm? I'm just returning the favor."
"Those times were different."
"No they weren't."
Jander's head whipped around and he hissed at her, drawing his lips back and baring his fangs. As soon as he began to do it, he regretted it, but didn't stop. This was the last he would see of Nire. But then he realized (still hissing) that she was just looking at him, one eyebrow slightly raised, as if she were saying, "And how old are we, hm?" Her scent held not even a trace of fear.
When he closed his mouth, a bit sheepishly, she asked, "Are you done acting like a two-year-old who isn't getting his way?"
"Why can't you act like a normal human for once," he muttered, his face in his hands.
"Because then I wouldn't be half as fun. By the way, did you know that your eyes glow when you do that?"
He just shook his head, his wheat-gold hair glimmering in the soft moonlight. They sat in silence for a while, Nire seated on the ground next to him. Soon, he found himself talking.
"Everywhere I go, it's the same. There are always curious people, nosy people, who find out. I don't even bother getting to know people anymore. Why should I, and then have them turn on me? You would think that I would be used to it by now. But no, it hurts just as bad as the first time." He paused, a lone crimson tear slipping down his cheek, shimmering in the moonlight. Apparently, he suddenly realized he had been talking. "Why am I telling you all this?"
Nire grinned a little. "Fort he same reason people on my world tell me things. I listen like I'm interested, I don't talk, and I don't judge."
"So you don't even care what I'm saying," Jander said miserably. He absently wiped the tear on his face.
"No," she said frankly, "most of the time I'm at least interested, and I definitely care about you," that seemed to surprise her when she said it, "so I care what you're saying."
Nire patiently waited for him to continue. She liked listening to other people's problems. She did not know why, but she liked it, and she supposed that was why people talked to her. The other reason, she knew, was because they eventually forgot she was there. She overheard a lot of things because people did not know she was there, or did not think she was listening.
After a little bit, just as she knew he would, Jander began to talk again. "Why do I even care? That is the most ludicrous part - the fact that I care. I barely knew my neighbors, I'm a loner. I don't dare get close to anyone anymore, fearing the bite when they turn on me. And if they didn't - if I had friends, or fell in love - I'd have to watch the people I am close to age and die, while I remain forever cursed to inhabit this never-changing body." He paused, and Nire took the moment to recite a poem she knew by heart.
"We are the forgotten, The lone solitaires. We are the ones for whom nobody cares. We are the few, Wide-awake in the night- A scream on our lips and trembling of fright. We are the few, And soon we are gone. It's a lost hopeless world, why should we go on?"
"Exactly," said Jander. Nire finally placed his tone of voice - tired, ready to give up. Now, he clearly waited for her input, one of the few who wanted her to give her opinion after they had told her something, and would not stop talking to her if she gave it.
"Do you know what one of your problems is? You don't talk to anyone. You keep everything all pent up inside."
"Oh?" he said suddenly and viciously. "And what do you know of talking to people? You don't tell anyone anything. You still cut yourself; I know that, I can smell it, as opposed to talking to people. You never tell anyone anything. So how can you give me advice?"
"How? Because I know how much better I would feel if I had someone I could trust, who would listen to me, someone I could talk to. If there was someone in my life who would hold me when I cried, tell me the world isn't as bad as I think it is."
"You have parents. That's what they're for." Now, he was angry, and just trying to hurt her.
Nire laughed scornfully at that statement. "Ah, yes, talk to my parents. They don't believe anything I say. If I told them how I'd like to kill myself, but am too chicken, they'd say I was making it up for attention. You want to know the truth? I'm a hundred times too sensitive - I cry when characters in books die. They don't care anymore, don't even listen. What of my friends, you are about to ask? Rare is the person who likes to listen to another's troubles."
"And where would I find such a person?" Jander asked softly. He was no longer angry, merely sad. "Who would be willing to do that? For you are right."
"I would, of course," she said, just as softly. "I seem to be good at it, do I not? And I would not mind. 'Twould probably remind me that my life ain't so bad, after all."
He finally turned to face her, his face shining in the fading moonlight. Nire saw the tracks of tears down his face, and knew that he had been crying, although she could not tell from his voice. His face was pitiful to look on - defeated and ready to give up.
"Do you know that it is the same everywhere I go?" he asked. "That it's been the same for centuries upon centuries? I live somewhere for about a year, keeping my distance from everyone, then I move on. But then, once in a while, I find myself somewhere that I really like, such as Waterdeep. Just a few more days, I tell myself, they won't find out if I stay for just a few more days." He studied her face intently. "No, you would not be able to listen and continue to be my friend. A friend I sorely need. Few are those who can be friends with one constantly wallowing in self pity, fewer still who can be friends with one who walks by night. The odds of finding someone who is both…"
"But I am one of those few, just as you are one of those few. Listening to others troubles gives us an escape from our own, reminds us, just for a second, that we are not alone. Gladly would I listen to your troubles, day in and day out, so my mind would be taken off how bad my life is. Just as you would gladly listen to mine, to gain the same effect.
"If you know this, know that you can talk to me, then why don't you?"
"Because I have to learn to trust again, just as you do. Both of us have been burned too many times." She surprised him by getting to her knees and hugging him tightly, which he gladly returned. "But try to trust me," she said into his ear, "as I will try to trust you."
For the rest of the night, they sat together on the top of the hill, until long after the moon had set. In fits and bursts, Jander talked. And in fits and bursts, Nire listened. They had come to some sort of understanding together, one neither understood, and nor does this author.
* * * * *
"Okay, guys, listen up."
Nire had gathered all of her friends (including Jander, Gar, and Alea) at Otik's Tavern.
Before bringing Gar through the gate, she had warned him, "If you try to screw with this world in any way, I swear, I will cut off your balls with a dull knife and make you eat them." Gar laughed, thinking she was kidding, but Nire just looked at him in that way she had, until; the laughter tapered uncertainly off. "I'm dead serious. I've got all of two places where I can escape from my world, and not be reminded of any of it."
Alea just had to ask, driven by a morbid curiosity, "But what about me? I would have helped him."
"You'd hafta watch," Nire replied calmly.
Alea laughed at Gar's horrified expression. "You wouldn't really do that, would you?"
Nire actually stopped to consider. "Well, if it was just Krynn, probably no, I'd just try to kick the shit outa you, scream and cry and make you feel guilty. However, if you got to Faerûn, too… I probably would."
"Well, don't worry," Gar finally said. "We won't."
It was extremely hard to convince Jander to come. She could have just announced this to everyone telepathically, but she figured this would be a good ploy to convince Jander to face Raistlin, and vice versa. The vampire was on the road again, after being kicked out of Waterdeep. He could have gotten lost in a different section of the city, but that did not feel right. If he did that, he would be forever on the alert, and get no rest at all.
After a brief verbal battle, she got him there, telling him, "It'll only take me a couple minutes, then you can escape. You can do this, man. Besides, I'm tellin' ya, Raist's cool with you - I argued some sense into him."
She had already, a long time ago, cast a spell on Jander that let him understand the language of Krynn permanently, so all she had to do was cast it on Gar and Alea. Now, everybody could speak and understand the language of Krynn. Jander was extremely nervous, going through the gate after Nire. Raistlin was a mage, and knew what he was, and could have anything prepared for him. But, Jander trusted Nire not to lead him into something like that. Still, he stayed relatively close to her in the tavern. Better safe than sorry.
Everybody was already listening to Nire, so she continued. " 'Kay, I just wanted t' let y'all know-" She broke off suddenly. "Holy shit! I'm a genius! Raist, get me some paper!"
Raistlin was used to her outbursts, although the others (save Jander, who was also accustomed to it) stared curiously. Usually, Nire could just look at a problem and figure it out. But, if it was something especially tough - such as the particular potion she just figured out - she would either work on it for a while using trial and error, or it came in a brilliant flash, like now. Since meeting Nire, Raistlin had taken to keeping a stack of paper, quill, and inkwell in every room of his tower, and carrying some with him at fall times. These, he produced now from one of his pouches and handed them to Nire. She started scribbling furiously in her own language. The lot of them watched her scribble in her messy writing.
"What are you writing?" Tas asked, appearing next to her.
"Don't talk to my yet, Tas," Nire said. She started writing even faster, trying to get it all down within the five-second-time span that the Kender could keep silent. Luckily, he was too busy trying to read her writing to talk for a good minute and a half, giving her time to finish.
"What is it? How come I can't read it?" Tas' ability to keep his mouth shut had worn out as she crossed the last t.
Nire had learned early on that it was completely pointless to try to answer all of the kender's questions, and usually ignored them, as she did now.
"Anyways, me an' m' fam'ly are goin' on vacation. Point one being, those of you who come an' visit me, stay outa my room. Point two being, we rented a house up in Canada - even more of the middle of nowhere than where I live. There's no sorta distractions, other than we got a private beach. This means my father's gonna be mental, my mother's gonna be whacked, and my sister'll be psycho." She paused. Jander sort of knew what was coming, and sympathized with her. This would be hard for her. "Look," she finally said, "I don't ask for much-"
Tas interrupted her. "You never ask for anything."
"Thank you for that correction, Tas," she said dryly. "Anyways… Odds are, I'm gonna need somewhere t' 'ang out, probably often, cuz it's for two weeks…"
"My doors are always open," Raistlin quickly said.
"Anytime during the day," Alea told her. "It'll be another month, at least, until we land on a planet." Gar nodded in agreement.
"Why don't you come live with me 'n' Flint for a while?" Tas asked, ignoring Flint's glares. "Why are you looking at me like that, Flint?"
"Don't worry, Flint, I can't."
"Why not?" Tas asked.
"Cuz my parents won't let me, duh."
"You know when I'm available," Jander told her, having relaxed a little.
The rest of their sentiments were pretty much the same. She smiled a little, saying "Thanks, guys. That's all I wanted, I just didn't feel like repeating myself a bunch of times."
She made a gate for Gar and Alea to get back to their ship outside the Tavern. She had Jander make one to Raistlin's Tower, then grabbed his arm.
"You're coming with us," she said. OF course, he resisted, and she turned to face him, a glare on her face. "See this?" she asked, waving the papers in her face. "I figured out how to make that stupid potion, and I need a guinea pig. In case it's poisonous, I need someone who's not sick, who won't die if it is. You won't, will you?"
Hello? Vampire, remember? Can't eat or drink mortal food? Ring a bell?
Not even a tiny sip?
Jander sighed. I'll try, okay? But why can't you bring it to me? After you make it?
"Cuz I don't feel like it, okay? Stop being such a baby!"
"Nire." He grabbed her arm, making her look in his eyes. "Do you swear to me that you made Raistlin 'see the light', as you say?"
"I promise," she said seriously.
This was enough for Jander. Nire seldom made promises, for she always kept them. It was the one shred of morality she had. He followed her through the gate.
Raistlin was standing slightly off to one side in his voluminous red robes, tapping one foot impatiently.
"What took you so-" He noticed Jander and paused for a split second. Jander smelled his fear level shoot up, then slowly drop back down and level off, still pretty high. "-so long?"
"You need a nap," was Nire's mild comment. "Go to bed. I don't need you, just your spell components and my guinea pig." She jerked a thumb at Jander.
A wounded look flashed across Raistlin's face, almost too quick to see. He was her guinea pig! Nire, of course, noticed the look.
"Hey," she said, spreading her arms in a What can I do? gesture, "I need someone who's not gonna die on me if it doesn't work and is poisonous." She shrugged the same way. "C'mon, Jander. If you're gonna stop being grumpy, come an' help, Raist. My room first."
Jander thought she meant her room in her house, and was about to offer to make a gate, but the girl strode off through the tower, to a room near where Raistlin concocted his spells. The red mage had given her a room to store her 'stuff', complete with a cot to taker a nap on. She went around the shelves that lined three walls, checking her papers, and taking things down and handing them to either Jander or Raistlin.
"I need-" Nire quickly rattled off a list of things. "Do you have any of that?"
Raistlin nodded and walked out, the two following him. Into another room he went, collecting vials and handing them to Nire. Then, Nire led them to another room, up a short staircase.
"Put everything on this table," she said, putting her stuff down and grabbing a mortar and pestle, and a couple of bowls, laying the page of writing down next to them. She began to work, talking to herself as she ground up bits of dried herbs.
"How much of that do you need?" Raistlin asked as she picked up a stalk of a dried flower. "Do you know how hard that is to find? And how expensive?"
"So, what, do you buy things like this just so you can say that you own them? I only need this much," she said, breaking off the very very tip of the smallest leaf. "Don't worry, I'm not as stupid as you seem to think."
She finished with the dry ingredients, and moved on to mixing the wet in a separate bowl. Raistlin and Jander stood in separate corners of the small room, watching each other mistrustfully. Nire glanced at the two of them a couple times. Finally, she had everything mixed together, and it had to sit for a couple of minutes. Nire dusted off her hands and fisted them on her hips, putting all of her weight on her left leg, as she was wont to stand most of the time. She looked back and forth at her two male friends for a couple seconds. To her, it was very important for the two to get along. She did not know the reason in her waking conscious, but subconsciously, it was because they were the two people she held in the highest regard in her life, and couldn't stand to have them hate and fear each other.
Finally, Nire sighed loudly and frustrated, causing their heads to snap towards her. "Mah gawd, you guys! Look at yourselves? Look. I'm still alive, aren't I? And I hang out with both of you, all on my lonesome, late at night."
"That's different," Raistlin tried.
"No it's not."
"You're a kid," Jander said.
"So? I'm not the cutesy kind of kid people would have qualms about murdering. NO, don't try to deny it, either of you," she said as they started to try and interrupt. "I know it's true. I know I've pissed both of you off enough times to have thoughts of murder running through your heads on occasion. Now shake hands, and stop acting so God damned stupid. Good God, you're making me nervous."
They didn't move, just retuned their gazes to each other, watching for the slightest threatening move. Nire waited a couple of seconds, to no avail. She growled, marched over to Raistlin, and grabbed his arms. She dragged him, unwillingly, to the center of the room. There wasn't much he could do, because, not only did she weigh more than him, she was stronger, too.
"Now stay there," she said.
Raistlin played it smart and listened to her. She moved, no less determinedly, to Jander's side. "Go," she ordered him, pointing right in front of Raistlin. Of course, he didn't move. She tried the same tactic that she was used with Raistlin, but of course that didn't work. She glared at him for, maybe, a full minute.
You know what? Fine. You didn't want to come here, so go to wherever the hell you're staying now. You disappoint me.
Jander also caught her underlying thoughts, which she hadn't meant to include )he was beginning to suspect that he had the same level of abilities as Nire, so unless he was very careful, he would get her thoughts anyway - that would explain why he heard the music in her head sometimes when she wasn't broadcasting). This is hwy I don't bother getting close to anyone. I can't trust them, they don't trust me. Good Lord, have I ever done anything to him that would indicate that I can't be trusted? No. And he wonders why I hate people.
"Go," she finally said out loud, dropping her arm. "Raistlin can try it, or I can. So go." As she was turning away, a thought struck her, and she whirled back quickly, before he could move. "But before you do, take a good look at Raistlin. He has a whole hell of a lot more to fear than you, yet he's standing there. At least he trusts me."
As she began to walk away again, Jander's first thought was to say, "Why should I trust you when you still don't trust me." That, however, would have been unfair to Nire, for she did trust him to a degree, as he trusted her. Would she have followed him into a situation like this? He was pretty sure she would have. And the mage was definitely afraid of him. So what did he have, really, to fear?
Raistlin could see the indecision on the vampire's face as Nire moved back to her potion. His fear was beginning to diminish as he watched the beast, and he could see that it wasn't a beast. It - he, Raistlin supposed - obviously cared deeply for the girl and what she thought of him. Maybe it - he - wasn't all that bad. Or maybe it was putting on a convincing show.
Still, Raistlin was not at all surprised when the vampire took a step towards him, one eye on him and one eye on Nire. He stopped about two feet from Raistlin, and waited for a few seconds, as Nire checked her mixture, appearing not to notice them.
Raistlin surprised himself by initiating telepathic contact with the vampire. How mad do you think she'll be if we break and run?
Jander blinked in surprise. Probably furious. Why the hell does she care so much?
Raistlin gave the telepathic equivalent of a shrug. Any way you can think of that'll let us fake through whatever she's expecting us to do?
Jander was beginning to feel more comfortable. No, unfortunately, I can't.
Nire tried not to laugh, eavesdropping on their telepathic conversation. They were both talking like they had to do some extremely onerous, disgusting task. She was able to turn the escaping giggles into realistic sounding coughs. She turned around and leaned back against the table to watch them. Their psychic conversation died, and they just stared at each other for a minute - until Nire got bored of waiting.
"Oh my God! You two are overly dramatic!" She stalked over and grabbed Jander's wrist, making him stick out his arm, then did the same to Raistlin. They shook hands gingerly and quickly, then back away.
"Oh, look," she said sarcastically. "Neither of you bite. And you're both still alive. Whether that's a good thing," she muttered, "or not is a quandary."
"Oo, big words for such a small brain," Raistlin said with a grin. Nire chucked some harmless flashes of light at him, making him duck.
"Any wiseass comments from you?" she asked Jander. He just smiled and shook his head. "Then c'mere. I think it's done."
The odor was unpleasant, even from where he was, halfway across the room. He was reluctant to come near it. Nire struggled not to gag as she poured a little bit into a wine goblet - the only glass she could find. Jander, himself, struggled with the mortal reflex of gagging as she came near him.
"If just drinking it doesn't kill me, the smell will," he muttered dryly, reaching for the goblet.
She jerked it back from him. "Wait just a gosh-darned second. Is this gonna kill you if you drink it? Just on the basis that it's not blood?"
"At the worst, it will just make me sick," he said, trying to reassure her. "Nothing more." I think.
"I heard that," she snapped. "I'm deadly serious. I've only got two people in my God-forsaken life who I can count on."
I'm not falling for that, Jander mentally injected. Just because it seemed as though you implied that those two people were me and Raistlin, does not mean that you really did. Of course, he knew that she had. He just wanted to hear it out loud.
"Yeah, well, I did you ass. I got you, an' I got Raistlin. An' I know, no matter what time of day or night, I can come to you guys' places and be welcome."
"Okay, okay," Jadner held up his hands, warding off any more of her verbal assault. "Breathe, little one. I'll be perfectly fine."
"You better, you ass." She handed him the goblet. "One mouthfull's all ya need."
Jander grimaced and held his nose. It stank to high heaven to his super-sensitive nostrils. "Couldn't you have at least made it smell good?" he asked plaintively.
"Hell, no," Raistlin said with a tight smile, surprising himself once more by speaking up with a joke. "If it doesn't smell bad and taste worse, then it won't work."
Jander grinned and closed his eyes (a mortal habit) and took exactly one mouthful, gulping it down. He immediately started coughing and gagging (mortal things he hadn't experienced in centuries). IT taste six hundred times worse than anything he had ever experienced, as a mortal or a vampire. "Just…like…poison."
"Are you gonna be okay?" Nire asked worriedly, immediately at his side. She rubbed his back, like that would help. He appreciated the gesture, though.
He nodded his head, and swiped an arm across his lips. "That tasted worse than sewage. You better fix that taste, little one, before you try it."
"Eh. Everything comes at a price." She took back the goblet, and began cleaning up, covering the leftover potion in the vial and the goblet. Both Raistlin and Jander came over to help, both still wary of the other. "Did it work?" Nire asked Jander, feigning indifference.
"I don't know. How can I tell?"
Nire rolled her eyes at Raistlin. "Uh, gee, maybe try it? I don't know. Duh. Try to speak my language."
"Did it work?" His eyes widened, and he reverted back to the Common of Faerûn (that was what they were speaking). "It did!"
"Ha ha ha!" Nire laughed jubilantly, grabbing Raistlin in a tight hug. He looked just as surprised as Jander would have been. This made Jander feel strangely glad - physical proof that he was not the only one whom Nire shunned physical contact with. He had not even known until now that it subconsciously bothered him.
"I am a genius!" she crowed with a grin. "I rock! Yes!" Raistlin was grinning, watching her, and Jander realized that he was, too. Now it was his turn for a hug, and he swung her around with a little laugh.
"Now I can go anywhere with no worry of figuring out the language! I am a genius!"
"A very conceited genius," Raistlin said, still smiling slightly.
"At least I don't deny it!"
"Stop your bouncing around," Raistlin said, back in the crabby mood that was most common to him. To Jander, the man did not smell as much of fear, anymore. Oh, it was still there, but not as strong. "Help me clean up your mess, lass."
"Grouch, grouch, grouch," Nire said. "Not even success can keep you happy for more than five seconds?"
Raistlin sighed. "DO you know what time it is, lass?"
Nire smiled on the inside. She usually got majorly pissed off whenever someone called her by that sort of childish nickname. Strangely enough, when it was Jander or Raistlin, she did not mind in the least. In fact, it made her feel sort of warm inside, which scared her.
"Am I supposed to take a guess?"
"It's one AM. I have a right to be grouchy."
"It's one AM! Holy mother fuckin' demon weenie!" The two men just stared at her. "I gotta be up wicked early tomorrow," she said by way of explanation, "and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We're going to my aunt's house, before we go on vacation, then I'm goin' for supper at the Blackstaff Tower. Come help me clean this up!"
Jander grinned at Raistlin. "And it all changes when she needs to have it cleaned up."
Raistlin rolled his eyes. "You're telling me."
"Good God, could it be?" Nire said sarcastically, pausing in her closing and collecting. "Are you two actually talking to each other? Hello. Move your asses on over here and help so I can go home and get to sleep." As they cleaned up, Nire explained how her potion worked. "It lasts forever - that was the easiest thing to figure out how to do. Basically, you can speak any language - man, demon, or beast - perfectly. Ya know how other languages don't correct things like the place of verbs and adjectives and shit? Will, this one does. You think in your native language, but whatever come out is in the language you want to be speaking. You can understand it all, write it all, everything. Pretty nifty, eh?" She noticed Raistlin's hourglass eyes looking at her funny. "What?"
"Only the gods have that kind of power," he told her. He had no doubt that the potion would work as she said. Nire seemed to have ridiculously good luck in making things work.
Nire laughed at that. "Oh, yeah. I'm a fledgling goddess, sent down here for some reason, with all of my memories of my elevated position erased." She rolled her eyes. "The gods probably just like me for some perverse reason."
They finished putting away everything, Nire labeling the vial and putting it and the directions with her collection of pre-made potions. Then she held up the goblet.
"Two swallows left. Want one, Raist?" Before he could answer, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and swallowed a quick mouthful. Immediately, as she handed the rest to Raistlin, she started gagging and choking, coughing up a lung or two or three or four. Jander and Raistlin were both immediately at her side, patting and rubbing her back like that would help. Nire impatiently waved them off.
"Blimey!" she said when she could talk. "Goes down like fire, tastes worser'n sewage, and 's more powerful than one of them mushroom wine drinks that drow make. Don't drink that, Raist, unless you've got your tea handy."
Raistlin snapped his fingers, and a teapot and cup appeared before him. He quickly swallowed the noxious liquid, as Nire poured him a cup of the other foul liquid. Instantaneously, Raistlin began coughing, a dry hack that sounded like he was tearing up the lining of his throat. His eyes teared as Nire handed him the cup of tea and took back the goblet.
As soon as he appeared to be better, Nire said, "I really have to go, man. 'Night, Raist. Jander, come with me, cuz I gotta ask you somethin'."
Raistlin nodded his goodnight, afraid to test his aching throat. He also nodded a farewell to Jander, who returned it as he followed Nire through her gate.
In Nire's room, as she was in the bathroom changing, she said, Don't get mad at me for what I'm 'bout to ask, 'kay? All I want is a simple yes or no.
Okay, he said a bit warily, wondering just what it was she was about to ask.
Nire came back into her room, and was putting away her weapons and clothes, when she started to softly laugh. "I can't believe that word came out of your mouth!" she said.
At Jander's confused glance, she sent him an image of the night in Blackstaff Tower when he had swore at her. He grinned a little, too. It was pretty out of character. Nire was still grinning like a fool. It had finally sunk in, that she had actually created that powerful a spell. She would be supremely happy for a few days.
"What did you want to ask me?" Jander questioned her, curious.
"Well," she got into bed as usual, "in some books I read, vampires can…I don't know…like, force people to do things…"
She clearly wanted to know, not only if he understood, but if it was true. "Yes, we can," he said, guardedly.
"Well, you know how I'm an insomniac, and will be up for another couple hours." He could see where this was leading. "And I really need to be asleep right now, so I was kinda wonderin…" she faltered as he began to shake his head. "Please, Jander? Please? You know I wouldn't ask, unless it was really important. I can't go to this place, running on only two hours of sleep."
He spread his hands. "I can't."
"You can't or you won't." This was why Nire didn't ask for things from people, even when she really needed it. They always said no to her, so it was just a waste of breath.
"I won't." He could not begin to describe how he would feel if he did.
"Damn you! Fine. It will be your fault, though, when I get screamed at for 'staying up so late reading'. They don't believe me, you know. They think I'm just 'playing insomniac' for attention." Her parents did have a legitimate reason. Desperate for someone to acknowledge that they cared about her, she usually complained of every little hurt, until it had become a habit. Nire lay down and rolled over onto her side, her back to him. "Flick off may light, will ya?"
Jander paused before doing as she asked. Now, he would feel guilty either way. Catch-22. He had absolutely no doubt about the truth of her statement. Now he had to weigh which guilt would be worse. If he was using his powers for good…
"Nire," he said softly into the darkness. She immediately turned to where his voice was coming from, meeting his eyes almost uncannily. "Sweet dreams, little one." Put into words, the basic command he sent was: You will immediately fall asleep. Your rest will be deep and restful, but you will promptly awake when someone tries to wake you. Her eyes slowly closed, and she was out like a light.
