Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Of thieves and Magi... ❯ Chapter 6

Sorry for the long delay. If you're still reading this... drop me a review, hmm? Just to let me know someone's still out there paying attention. ;)

As with my other fic, since the italics and such often don't show up...

*emphasis*

[thoughts]

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SIX:

"Don't tense up."

Duo tried, yet again, to consciously relax himself. And, yet again, all he managed to do was make himself more tense.

"You're losing concentration."

"I can't help it," the thief snapped in return, opening his eyes. "I'm hungry. We've been at this for *hours*. My rear is asleep, and I still don't really know what we're doing. Sorry, but I'm finding all of that a little bit distracting."

Wufei gave a soft growl of breath and rubbed a hand over his face in apparent frustration. "I've told you, I'm trying to stimulate your magical talents and make then--"

"Break their dormancy sooner than they naturally would," Duo quickly said, picking up what was by now a familiar recitation. "Yes, thank you. Very informative. But shouldn't that mean that we might actually *do* something instead of just sitting here staring at each other?" Stiffly, he levered himself to his feet, cursing as his numbed limbs straightened. He began to pace shakily around the small, plain room, stomping his feet to get the blood moving again.

It had been three days since the two of them had first entered this room-- a real Mage's workshop, he'd been told, one of several in the building. Complete with warding runes painstakingly carved into every square inch of the thick stone walls, floor and ceiling. In this room, Wufei had said while Duo stared in something like awe at the tiny writings, it would be possible to have a rather large magical explosion without having even a tremor escape to trouble the room next door.

Duo had a moment in which to wonder if they were expecting him to explode, before the Shade was directing him to sit on the floor in the centre of the room. "Just relax, and try not to think too hard. Meditate. Imagine clouds, or water, or something soothing. I'll be doing all the work."

"And just what precisely will you be doing?"

Wufei had given him a somewhat wary look at that point before answering, as if knowing just how many times in the near future that question would be asked.

And that was where they had been for all the days following. They left occasionally for, in Duo's case, food and sleep and other necessities. But for the most part they sat, on the floor since apparently chairs could not be brought into the room. Duo tried not to climb the exquisitely decorated walls in boredom, Wufei did whatever it was that he needed to do-- which, as far as Duo could tell, didn't have any effect whatsoever.

The entire routine was becoming tiresome, very quickly.

Duo gave his legs one last shake and sighed heavily as he turned back towards Wufei and his spot on the floor. A slight noise at the door stopped him just as he was getting settled once more.

Wufei frowned slightly and lifted himself from his own cross-legged position with an uncramped ease that had Duo glaring at the other in sour envy. The Shade crossed silently to the door, then paused and closed his eyes in brief concentration before unlatching and opening the door.

The heavy portal swung back to reveal Heero.

Wufei nodded calmly at the Mage and stepped back to allow him entrance to the room. "You're back," he said as way of greeting.

Heero made a slight, noncommittal sound as answer, and moved forward enough to lean against the open door's frame. He and the Shade shared a glance for a moment, before the dark blue gaze in its surrounding tangle of lines was shifted to Duo-- who was trying very hard to squelch his sudden nervousness.

Over the last few days, despite the frustration and discomfort, the thief had become rather used to the situation, and to Wufei's presence. The Shade-- and Quatre, and even the guard Trowa-- had become familiar factors in daily life, and as such their presence no longer made Duo wary.

The Mage, though, was a new factor, and one that Duo had conveniently forgotten he'd have to deal with. His sudden presence was sending all of Duo's instincts into a frenzy.

[He's a Mage.]

[He's not much bigger than you. Show no fear. Show no weakness.]

[But he's a *Mage*.]

[So?]

Caught between fight and flight, Duo gritted his teeth and just stayed still.

The Mage studied him for a long moment, then turned his attention away. "Has he made any progress?" he asked curtly, blue eyes sharp as they fixed on Wufei.

[Now wait just a minute, here. Did you just *dismiss* me?] Pride intervened and made Duo's decision for him, despite the small voice in his mind telling him to just stay quiet. He drew up one knee and leaned back on his hands in a deliberately casual posture. "Not much, I'm afraid, but certainly through no fault of my own," he said loftily, and managed not to cringe as two sets of eyes turned to hit him with hard stares. "I mean, Fei here hasn't let me actually do anything yet; I'd be more than happy to help with whatever it is he's doing, otherwise."

The look Wufei gave him was cool, with a hint of a glare. "I'm getting close," was all he said, turning his attention to Heero. "But he's very strong. If I push too much at once, it would be very easy to start a backlash."

Duo blinked. [And why haven't you been telling *me* this? And why are you both still talking about me as if I wasn't even here?![

Mage and Shade looked at each other for a silent moment, then Heero nodded and came into the room. Wufei closed and locked the door behind him.

Seeing the two of them coming towards him, Duo's nerves came back in a rush. He started to inch backwards across the floor, without even fully realizing it, but was brought up short as the two seemed to suddenly be at his side. Hands settled firmly on his shoulders, keeping him seated in place while Wufei settled onto the floor before him once more.

He glanced up once to meet unreadable blue eyes. "Just relax," the Mage advised.

[Easy for you to say--]

Still, he took a deep breath and did his best to let his mind drift. For a very long moment, it was just as it had been before, except with all three of them frozen there doing nothing, instead of just the two. A tingle of numbness began to creep down his left leg, but a slight increase of pressure on his shoulders made him suppress the instinctive squirm that the feeling inspired.

But then-- his fingers started to tingle as well, and the feeling began to spread until his skin was positively crawling with the odd sensation. It even seeped beneath the surface, like a second heartbeat in his veins, like a static shock without the pain, like something almost alive--

"What is--"

The hands on his shoulders squeezed gently. "Relax," a voice whispered. "Wufei?"

The Shade's closed eyelids creased as he frowned. "Almost."

A sense of panic welled up instinctively, making Duo's entire body quiver-- but then he gasped, and jerked, and stared blindly as *something* seemed to ignite in his chest, and all of the previous hints of sensation flared to life. There *was* something alive, running beneath his skin, and it didn't seem like it would take much effort to reach inside and touch it, hold it, use it--

The fingers squeezed again, though it took a moment to separate out that feeling from the overwhelming mass of sensation drowning him. "Don't try," the voice warned, making Duo wonder briefly how it could have known what he was almost thinking of doing. "Just let it be for a moment, let it settle."

Duo found himself nodding absently, and realized that he was still gasping for air. Shakily, he drew in a deeper breath, had to let it out hastily, tried again and had somewhat better success. Slowly, the world started to settle into its proper place again, though the awareness of the energy in his blood and bones didn't fade. Instead, it just wrapped itself more thoroughly around his core, burrowed in and set down roots.

An unknown number of minutes later found him sweat-soaked and slumped on the ground, bone-weary yet filled with a kind of nervous energy. He dragged his eyes up to meet those of the Mage, which somehow didn't seem so forbidding anymore. "This is what you feel?" he asked hoarsely.

Heero didn't offer an answer, but Duo didn't really expect one. There was a faint, odd understanding passing between them, and that was more than answer enough.

Wufei stood, and reached down to offer both hands, which Duo took after a moment's hazy hesitation. He stumbled upon reaching his feet, steadied, swayed again. "So. Are we done here for today?" he asked lightly, though there was a certain breathless quality to his voice that ruined the effect.

The Shade's lips quirked briefly. "Yes, I think maybe we are."

"Oh, good." Duo took one more deep, steadying breath, then started towards the door. "In that case, I think I'm going to go to bed. If you've got no objections."

"None."

Nodding absently, Duo reached for the handle-- pausing a moment to stare at the runes covering it and the walls, as they seemed to writhe in ways that really couldn't be explained by exhaustion. He stepped out into the hall to find Quatre waiting for him, no doubt summoned at some point by means unknown.

Without a word, the blonde stepped up and took firm hold of Duo's elbow, taking some of his weight.

"Hey, now, no need for that," Duo immediately protested, instinct beating out common sense by half a heartbeat. "I c'n make it."

"Of course you can," Quatre agreed blandly. "But I'm here now anyway, so you might as well let me do my job. You wouldn't want me to get in trouble, would you?"

"Course not. Well, if that's the way it is--"

The stairs passed in a blur, with the hand on his elbow the only thing anchoring him at times. When his head hit the pillows, he was asleep before the sheets were pulled up around him.