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Date Posted: 13:35:12 01/10/02 Thu
Author: Rowan
Subject: Since one deserves another....
In reply to: Laurel 's message, "No interruptions yet...." on 12:58:34 01/10/02 Thu

Rowan could tell Tia was about to say something important. For some strange reason, his heart started thudding against his chest, and he felt his breathing start to quicken a bit. A small, alarmed little section of his brain suddenly realized, This isn’t magic!, but before anything significant could happen, they were interrupted.

“Tristan attacked me!”

Rowan waited until he was finished rolling his eyes before turning around, not bothering to hide the annoyed expression from his face. He listened to Jeremy rant and whine about how Tristan had treated him, all because he had wanted Marz to put some berry paste on his lips. Hmm, best not to think too hard on that one, he thought, unable to suppress a slight smile.

He turned to tell Tia he was sorry for the interruption, but when he whirled around, she was gone! He searched the camp with his eyes for a couple seconds, before facing Jeremy again, a scowl now noticeably returned to his face.

“Thanks a lot!” he said, kicking angrily at the sand with a muttered curse. He stood for a moment, closing his eyes and getting his heartbeat to return to normal while he breathed in the calm desert air. He had to remind himself that Jeremy was just a kid, having no concept of anybody’s interests but his own, which allowed for his tendency to act like a complete and utter buffoon at times.

“This close,” he muttered, holding his thumb and forefinger up, “This close…. I know she was about to say something important….” He sighed and raked his hands through his wavy white hair, frowning as he encountered a couple tangles. Hell, did the giant genies take baths or what? He couldn’t seem to recall them offering anything of the sort….

“All right,” he said, feeling more at ease now. He turned to Jeremy and put both hands on his shoulders. “All right, listen up, kid. I’m going to tell you something, and you can either believe it or not.” He held Jeremy’s angry brown eyes with his own to make sure he was paying attention. Just as he opened his mouth, however, his gaze strayed up a couple inches, noticing for the first time the bold red words printed on the kid’s forehead.

“Rake me?” he asked, choking on a laugh. “Ahh…no thanks, kiddo, not tonight. Now, this is what you’ve got to understand: Marz is in love. Yes—” He held up one finger in caution as Jeremy struggled to open his mouth and protest. “Yes he is. No, just shut up and listen. Because of this, Tristan does own Marz….”

He paused, pulling on a strand of hair while he chewed on his lip in thought. “Yeah…that’s go to be it. I can’t think of anything else that explains the way they tolerate each other. So Marz loves Tristan, and I guess he loves him back, although that’s not really the point. The point—and listen to this—is that pushing Tristan away from Marz isn’t going to work. No, the trick here, the real beauty of the plan, if you’re actually stupid enough to try, would be to make Marz think he ought to push Tristan away himself. That is, before you start offering yourself as a substitute, you need to give him a reason why he should be looking around in the first place.”

He shook his head. “It’s beyond you, really. Breaking up decent relationships takes time and skill, kid, believe me. You gotta want it, in here,” he punched his heart lightly, “Where it counts. It’s a lot like going into battle. If you’re not willing to die for it, it ain’t worth doing.”

Hmm, getting a touch dramatic there. Jeremy was staring at him with wide eyes though, taking in everything he said. Rowan really liked when he stared at him like that. He remembered the days when the kid hardly took notice of that stupid Nightcrawler idiot and spent all his time with Rowan, tagging along like the little sidekick he’d always wanted. He guessed those days were over.

“Got it?” he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he patted his cheek and grinned. “Good. Go get ‘em, tiger.” He finally released his hold on Jeremy and backed up a few steps, his eyes catching sight of Erlic, who was sitting on a rock in the distance with his sister. “Now, if you’ll excuse me….”

He strode off quickly, heading toward the pair, not even really believing what he was about to do. Best to just get it over with right now, then, instead of dwelling on it for a couple days. Besides, Erlic might have it in mind to ask for his help this very night. No use holding back then, right?

“Hey,” he said, drawing both their attentions from one another. He ignored Laurel’s frown and focused instead on Erlic. “You said you wanted to know…well, about what you’d been asking about earlier. Well, I’m ready to talk about it, if you’re ready to listen.”

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