In the Closet

Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot.

Chapter 8: At the Schoolyard

Nita saw Kit for a split second as she headed off to her first class after lunch. They didn't have time to talk, nothing more than brief eye contact. As she settled into her seat and flipped open her notebook, she felt him make mind-contact with her. She could sense him, half a dozen rooms away, sitting in his history class chewing on a pencil. He was sitting next to a gangly blonde boy Nita recognized vaguely as being in several of Kit's other classes. She was sure he was equally aware of her in her math class, the hum of gossip in the rows behind her—no one ever seemed to pay attention in this class.

Neets?

She couldn't help smiling at the image of him, chewing on his pencil and scowling at the paper in front of him. She tried to fight down the smile so that her classmates didn't think she was an utter lunatic. Then again, most of them probably already thought she was. Yeah?

He erased something on his paper. You want to come over after school and read up on Mars? Haven't really looked at all of it since the authorization went through.

Can you come to my place instead? Dad's working late and I need to grill the runt and make sure she eats. She's up to something.

Nita could practically feel Kit's eyes roll. When isn't she up to something? I'll meet you by your locker after school.

The connection faded as they started to pay some attention to their classes, but Nita was restless through the next two periods, wondering what Dari had in mind. She still wasn't sure if talking to Millman today had made her feel better or worse about things with Kit. She really wanted to tell her mom about this, as soon as she had time to go to Timeheart. Maybe she'd have Aunt Annie over for tea. She gave a mental groan—as if it was ever only one cup of tea. She wondered at that groan; as much as she had disliked the whole come in for a cup of tea ritual at the start of her trip to Ireland, she didn't find it so unbearable anymore. She liked the taste of tea. It was better than coffee at any rate. Nita suddenly noticed the classroom was starting to empty and scribbled down the assignment from the blackboard and got up, shoving her things into her backpack.

Kit was waiting by her locker. He'd already gotten everything he needed out of his for the day. "You'll never guess what I saw at lunch." They didn't have the same lunch period these days.

Nita shut her locker. "What's that? Food coming out of the cafeteria that actually looked like food?"

"Even weirder. Mr. Sun-King showed up looking for your sister."

Nita stared, nudging him in the ribs and looking towards the gate. There was Roshaun, a lollipop in his mouth, waiting for Dairine. She asked quietly, "You think he's been here all that time since lunch?"

Kit shook his head. "He wasn't by the gate at lunch. He was by the tables then." They held back a moment and watched Dairine storm over to him. They couldn't hear the argument, but judging by the body language, Dairine's temper was long gone. Nita and Kit moved closer as if passing by casually. They could hear some of the argument.

"I told you to go home. What's wrong with you?"

"I did leave. Your Seniors granted authorization on our gate for the upcoming three weeks. This evening we will activate it. You also informed me that you finished your mandatory school day at three o'clock; logically I returned at three to escort you home." His body language was languid, unhurried, utterly unconcerned; his tone of voice made it all sound as though this was incredibly reasonable and he had done nothing wrong in the slightest. It only made Dairine look all the madder.

A kid was walking towards Dairine and Roshaun. Nita vaguely recognized the kid as one of Dairine's poker buddies and silently told Kit so as she saw him raise an eyebrow in question.

"Callahan, this freak bothering you?"

The smartass reply flew out of the redhead's mouth without hesitation. "He's not, you are. Out of my face. I don't have time to deal with your crap."

Nita could feel a spell building, and a crowd forming near the gate. She could almost taste the mob's thoughts: if Dairine Callahan was going to fight somebody, people wanted to see it. Not to mention, there was a weird older boy with long hair outside the gate, where had he come from? The crowd was curious and this looked like it would be a good show. Nita thoroughly hoped it wouldn't…it didn't feel like one of Kit's spells. She wasn't sure who it was coming from.

Dairine put her hand on Roshaun's arm, squeezing a little bit, Don't overreact. "This is my boyfriend, Jackson. Put a sock in it and get out of my way unless you're in the mood for a black eye."

The boy frowned. "Since when do you have one of those?"

Dari snorted, turning away. "Shows how much attention you pay. C'mon." She tugged Roshaun by the arm and they left.

The boy called after her, "And what kind of boyfriend is he if you're threatening to give me the black eye and he's not?"

Nita watched, amused, as 'Shash Jackson tripped, his left shoe stuck to the ground. She and Kit slipped out amid the snickers of the freshmen.

"Well, that could have gotten ugly fast."

Nita shook her head. "What do you mean could have? It did. It could have been worse, but…" She looked for the words. "You remember what people were saying about us the summer we went to Ireland?"

"Yeah, they thought you'd been sent away because I got you 'in trouble.' Idiots. I still don't get it. It's not like we went around panting at each other or anything." He kicked a rock and watched it skid halfway across the street. "Why?"

She sighed. "I think Dari's getting ready for her own vanishing act and after that scene…same sort of rumors are going to fly."

Kit raised both eyebrows. "Let's stop by my place before yours…I'll get Abernathy and you can tell me what's going on. Wouldn't want to get home at the same time as the lovebirds anyway." They had been following about 10 yards behind Roshaun and Dairine, but they reached the point in the walk where they broke off and headed towards Kit's house.

"So what exactly is up with Dairine?"

Nita blushed, wondering how to explain. "I went to talk to Millman today—"

"The school shrink you were seeing after your mom…?"

"He's a therapist and yeah, that's the one," she admitted tersely. "When I was going in, Dairine was coming out. She had a GED book. I think she's planning on testing out and not finishing high school."

Kit unlocked his front door, walking in. "Can you blame her? You know how hard it is to be a wizard here. If she went off with Roshaun she wouldn't have to hide it, wouldn't be responsible for passing in the adult world here. I'm surprised she'd even bother with the GED."

Nita stared at him as she flopped herself down on the sofa. "She's a minor and if she's going to get out of here, she's got to do it in a way that's not going to raise flags. If she just disappears, the police are going to think my dad or I chopped her up and hid her body in the walls or something."

Kit made a face. "I wouldn't sit there. I'm never sure when Carmela will be bringing one of her boyfriends home. She's not allowed to bring them up to her room."

She reached out a hand and he helped her up and they started up the stairs. She gave him a lopsided grin, mustering up the courage to ask about whether last night was one-off, or if he thought it'd happen again. "Think your parents are going to ban me from your room?"

He couldn't help flushing a little, Nita noticed, but he was definitely grinning back at her. "I think so long as Carmela doesn't catch us by surprise again and blab, we should be able to get away with it for a while. That is…if you want to."

She answered him with a kiss and he fumbled for the doorknob. She couldn't help whispering in his ear, "So we duct tape Mela's mouth shut as soon as we see her?"

He burst out laughing so hard that he nearly fell over, slinging his backpack on the floor. "I think that's the best suggestion I've heard in about a week." He pulled his manual out of his pocket, through the otherspace pocket. Nita dug hers out too and they sat on the bed, reading through the details in their manuals about Mars in companionable silence, occasionally commenting to each other about something, or making notes to check back over things later. About an hour into their reading, Abernathy scratched at the door, and Kit let him in. The dog claimed half of Kit's bed for himself, causing Nita and Kit to scrunch up on the top half. Kit muttered, "Greedy dog" but didn't seem to mind or make the dog move. On the contrary he reached out for Nita's hand and held it for a while as they read…until he had to turn the page anyway.

"It looks like there's a presence on Mars. Not necessarily life forms exactly."

"Not like Dairine's amoeba on Europa."

Kit frowned. "Whatever it is, I get the impression it's not indigenous. Something came from elsewhere and has planted itself on Mars. Maybe it's got its sights on Earth."

"And maybe you've watched too many sci-fi movies, Kit."

Kit stared her down. "Doesn't mean it's not true, Neets." They were about to go back to their reading when he looked at the clock. "You said you wanted to eat at your place?"

"Yeah. I'm cooking tonight—picked up burger meat and buns at the store the other day. Dad's working late I think; he might come home just long enough to eat. Hamburgers out on the grill with as great as the weather's been."

Kit peeled himself off the bed. "Then we ought to get going. My parents are both going to be home from work soon. I'd just as soon leave them a note and be out of here before they get here." They gathered up their things and left a note for his parents on the bulletin board. DINNER AT NITA'S. HOME LATER. They eased passed Carmela and her latest boyfriend on the couch, sharing a set of headphones and listening to Japanese music or something and exited the house as unobtrusively as possible with Abernathy on one of Ponch's leashes. "I'm shocked she brings boyfriends over, knowing all the craziness that could be going on at the house. As far as I know the TV and DVD haven't acted up in front of any of them. I haven't had to zap anybody's memory." When they reached the Callahan house Dairine and Roshaun didn't appear to be home.

"Wonder what they're up to."

"Probably rearranging the universe, one solar system at a time."

She snorted. "Even Dari doesn't have that sort of power anymore. She likes to think she does. You want to help me with the burgers? Meat is in the fridge."

Dairine couldn't believe that Roshaun had the audacity to show up at her school, not once, but twice in one day. What was he thinking?

Roshaun looked at her, bemused, and slowed his strides; she had to take two steps to match each of his. She'd do it without complaint, rather than ask him to slow down, but he slowed anyway, not wanting to her to struggle terribly much. "I just wanted to escort you home. Sitting in your domicile all day is becoming rather monotonous."

She rolled her eyes. "It hasn't been that many days, Roshaun. I'm not having a picnic at school, you know. You're going to cause problems. A stranger hanging around outside the gates of the school and talking to a girl isn't usually seen as a good thing. You could have been hauled off and how would I have explained you or gotten you out of trouble? You don't have an I.D. Think before you do these things."

"For your information I was thinking and I felt ineffectual sitting there alone. There's too much to be done for me to be nonfunctional. I simply cannot do it, Dhairine." He stood still, folding his arms and looking down his nose at her.

They were nearly home. "Then do something useful. Go to work with my dad tomorrow. Hell, go to work with him tonight; it's his late night. I have things I need to do. I'll take you to the shop."

He paused, staring at her. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Damn right I'm serious. I can set up the gate this afternoon. I'm trying to contact the Senior wizard of the whales tonight. You ought to go do something useful," she grumbled, tossing her backpack on the floor.

Roshaun shook his head, leaning against the door frame. "If you're going to talk to the Senior in the Waters, I'm going with you. This is my business as much as yours, more so even. It's my home."

"I'm still waiting to hear back from her." Dairine didn't want to admit that she had some misgivings about the meeting. Nita and Kit had had plenty of dealings with S'reee but she hadn't had any herself. Earth's oceans weren't exactly part of her specialty and the Song of Twelve business had all been before her Ordeal. She sighed. "I still need to work some things out. Why don't I take you to the flower shop? You can help my dad out while I get some thinking done, and after dinner we can both go meet with S'reee."

"That would not normally be part of my job description," he replied with some humor.

Neets was outside working the grill and Kit had come back into the house to use the bathroom. On his way out, he saw Dairine coming up the stairs from the basement, an old duffle bag in her hand. "Running away from home?"

Dairine shook her head. "Not yet. And before you ask—I see it coming—Roshaun's at the shop with dad. We've got the world gate set up in the basement, so don't run into it. We're going to meet with S'reee tonight for another angle on Wellakh's drought."

Kit leaned against the wall, looking at her Dairine. "I know you don't want my help, but I had a thought."

She scowled at him. "This isn't your intervention; we don't need help."

Kit shook his head. "Just because we weren't originally assigned to this intervention doesn't mean we shouldn't intervene. The Powers throw us in each other's way for a reason. You remember that wizard Darryl that Neets and I were working with?" He just barely stopped himself from saying "working with just after your mom died." He moved on quickly. "She and I both got assigned to him separately. We were both suited to the job for different reasons and if we had gone in at the same time, she wouldn't have been there to pull me out. Stuff happens the way it does for a reason. Anyway, how's your finesse with spelling developing?"

Dairine frowned, watching him warily. "I think it's coming along fine. Always more to learn but…I'm not ramming my head against the wall trying brute force. I know better at my age."

He raised his hands in a surrender gesture, then folded his arms casually. His voice was quiet. "I just thought…maybe you ought to give the practice universes a try. Like the intervention Nita did with your mom and with Darryl. You don't want to go into the sun; I'm not sure doing anything directly to the atmosphere or water will trigger the change you want. I think your best bet on Wellakh may be to go find the planet's kernel and see what you can do from there. It'll take practice, but you'll get your results. Talk to Tom and Carl about it and see if you can get the authorization for it and if you can…the information you'll need will show up. Dinner should be ready in about 15 minutes," he added as an afterthought, heading out to the backyard to help Nita. He knew Dairine well enough to steer clear of deliberately suggesting that she ask Nita for help on this intervention, but he knew she was a smart enough girl to think of it on her own…and it'd be her decision as to whether or not she would ask for help. Most of wizardry was talking and making decisions—a person couldn't make the decision for someone else no matter how much you wanted to.

Dairine was bristling, the energy coming off her nearly tangible as she went upstairs to start packing. Nita had practice at dealing with kernels. Going after the kernel was the logical answer and it hadn't hit Dairine. It wasn't an area of her expertise. She hated the thought of asking her sister for help, but it might be the best answer. Kit was right. The Powers threw all of them in each other's ways for different reasons. When Roshaun had turned up, Dairine was certain it was the Powers way of punishing her for trying to go over Tom and Carl's heads on the excursus. He was insufferable. But he was the answer to the problem they had with Earth's sun. Maybe the Powers were killing two birds with one stone—punishing her and bringing the answer to one of Earth's problems. He was the answer to more than one problem that had come up since then even, or part of the answer. Nita and Kit had been working separately on Darryl's ordeal without realizing it, and it had turned out that they had the right answers together. As far as mom…well, that was better off not dealt with. She shoved it aside, compacting it into a tiny corner of her mind. A part of Dairine knew and understand why things had gone the way they had gone, but there wasn't a hell of a lot about it that made her feel any better about the whole situation. She rubbed Spot absent-mindedly as he bounced on her bed a little. "Where are those dresses? I want to bury them at the bottom of the duffle." She started packing up a few essentials—underwear, socks, giant t-shirts, a ratty pair of cargos, the dresses…

Dairine came downstairs, still mulling over the idea of going after Wellakh's kernel. It would keep both of them away from Wellakh's star, which was Roshaun's expertise (and not the problem right now), though it was where he was sure the answer was. She was better off staying away from the star—it was unstable and had been that way for a long time. It wasn't what was causing the drought. She didn't have any experience with kernels, but she could learn. A little voice in the back of her head said, Or you could just ask your sister for help, but she brushed the little voice away. Besides, Nita and Kit will be busy enough with that business Aunt Annie brought them.

Kit grabbed plates and glasses from the cupboard while Nita got the lettuce, tomato, and condiments out of the fridge. "Dari, get the buns."

Dairine grabbed the bag from the cupboard and tossed them on the table.

Nita frowned, hearing the thunk, and didn't bother looking at her sister. "You're eating the most dented one."

Dari rolled her eyes, replying glibly, "Doesn't change the taste."

"Where's Mr. Sun King?"

Dairine pushed her chair back and sat down, grabbing a bun from the bag and reaching for a patty. "At the shop with dad. I thought it would be good for him."

She stared at her sister, mid-reach for her own burger. "What made you think that was a good idea?"

She shrugged, grabbing a second burger and slathering it with mustard. "I wanted some space after the scene he caused at school."

"And you thought making him dad's problem was a good plan?"

She didn't respond.

The silence was broken by the sound of a car pulling in the driveway. Kit got up to set two more places at the table. Nita watched as her dad and Roshaun came in. She was surprised—she couldn't remember seeing Roshaun in Earth-garb other than a floppy t-shirt. He had on one of her dad's work shirts, and a tie. His hair was tied back from his face. He was even wearing an invisibility illusion over the Sun Stone. "Doesn't clean up bad, runt," she muttered to her sister. Dairine just looked smug; she had picked out the outfit. "Dinner's ready. Potato chips, burgers, and salad."

Harry Callahan looked at the array of food and kissed Nita on the top of the head as he went for the coffee machine, turning it on. "Only on a dinner break—Mike's watching the shop for me. Hello, Kit."

"Hi, Mr. Callahan."

The Wellakhit King gracefully settled himself at the table and dropped the invisibility spell on the Sun Stone as he sat at the table beside Dairine. "The experience was most educational."

Nita's dad looked amused. "It seemed every time a teenage girl came into the shop and saw Roshaun, she left and came back with three friends. You could be very good for business." He got up to get his coffee. "You're welcome to come back to the shop after dinner if you don't have anything that has to get done here."

Nita saw a strange look pass over her sister's face as she watched the looks fly back between her and Roshaun.

Kit just barely kept himself from laughing out loud. He whispered to Nita, "I don't think the image of hordes of girls hitting on Roshaun is sitting well with her."

Dairine shot Kit an I-heard-that look that she would have loved to use to severely maim him if it wouldn't have been a violation of her Wizardry Oath.

When dinner was over, Roshaun accompanied Mr. Callahan back to the shop at Dairine's insistence. She glared at Kit in a why-don't-you-make-yourself-scarce sort of way and he headed into the living room while she most uncharacteristically offered to help her sister with the dishes. They worked in silence for several minutes while Nita waited for Dairine to introduce whatever was on her mind. When the runt finally opened her mouth, the words that came out had nothing whatsoever to do with anything Nita was expecting to hear.

"How are you with kernels?"

"There are a lot of different types, Dari. A person's kernel, a world, a universe…they're all different, but the same general rules apply. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I keep practicing. I'm getting to understand them, but it's like with the rest of wizardry. The longer I study wizardry the less I feel I understand anything. Or rather, I understand that there's always more I didn't even know I didn't know."

"You've had months of practice at this." It wasn't a question. Dairine was irritated at herself and scrubbed at the plate she was supposed to be drying as though intending to take the printed flowers along the edge right off it. "Wellakh is in trouble. I think Roshaun and I are slamming our heads against the wall and we don't have time to bang our heads like this." She took a deep breath as though there was a bad taste in her mouth. She took several more before she managed to get the words out. "I'm on errantry and I greet you. I request your assistance on an intervention on…" Dairine went on, giving Wellakh's name in the Speech, defining the type of intervention necessary, the probably danger level and duration. When she stopped, she paused for half a breath before adding, "Well?"

"I'm there."

"Me too. Mars should still be here when we get back," Kit said, lounging against the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. He was itching to get to Mars but…some things could wait. Nothing was set to happen immediately with the Mars project…they could do this.

Dairine snorted. "Who invited you?"

Kit raised his eyebrow, looking from one Callahan girl to the other, quite evenly. "Nita's butt might need to be pulled out of the fire—Roshaun will be too busy saving yours. Somebody's got to look after her."

Nita threw the wet dishrag at him across the room and managed to catch him square in the chest with it. She was rather proud of herself for that—her aim was good. She crossed to the kitchen table and stretched out on one of the chairs, her legs crossed on the floor in front of her. "You can finish washing the dishes."

Dairine dropped the slightly damp dishtowel on the counter. "And drying. I'm done. I've got things to take care. Spot!" She darted out of the kitchen.

Nita made a sour face and tilted her head towards the sink, indicating that they'd finish the dishes together. As she got into Dairine's place for drying and Kit started to wash, she said, "Had to know Dari'd never actually finish her turn with the dishes."

"I wish Sker'ret was here. There wouldn't be any dishes left to have to wash."

She chuckled. "Maybe we'll see him at the Crossings."

Kit shook his head. "Dairine's got the World Gate up in the basement—a subsidized one to help take care of the energy for the transports to and from Wellakh. Roshaun doesn't even have to stay here this week. He could go and come back every day. Of course, that would be selfish waste of energy that the Powers are just handing over to him." The both laughed; yeah, right…Roshaun would stay to save energy…not to keep making out with Dairine or anything.

"I have to say, I was surprised to hear Dairine ask for help. That's not like her, not until she's real desperate. You think things have gotten that much worse this quickly? Or—" She paused. "You said something to her, didn't you?"

Kit shrugged, but there was a small telltale smile on his face. "I followed a hunch. The Powers don't waste. Two of you in the same house…she had a problem and it looked like you might be the answer to it and I was at the right place at the right time to nudge her in your direction." He grinned outright at her. "And where you go, I go. Partners for life, for Life's sake." He leaned forward and kissed her, resting a hand on the counter on either side of her.

Author's Note: Please hit the shiny review hyperlink? I think it was shinier back when it was a button, but they didn't ask for my vote on it. So I reread the whole series (now I feel like correcting details in the story before this one and this one...) and I got a hundred pages into a Wizard of Mars before I left for Taiwan. Now I'm 6000 miles from my copy of the book. I left it at home. I had planned to finish it on the plane. I'm so sad over it right now. Waiting to have it shipped halfway around the world to me.

Anyhoo, here I am, I updated again and I've got all sorts of thoughts churning in my mind over this story. Please review so I know what you think. I can take criticism, I can take praise, I just love to know how people respond to the words that keep falling out of my silly fingers-I'm never sure what they will be.