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DISCLAIMER: Nope. But I'd take Ethan, really.
SUMMARY: Ripper teaches Ethan how a spell is done.
WORDCOUNT: 566
DEDICATION: for Dana, who asked for Giles.
FORAYS (AkA: Who's the Boss?)
by Leni
Rupert watched dispassionately as his friend tried to conjure a demon. He almost shook his
head, Ethan had been nowhere near that kind of training when he left the Council. He
waited for another ten minutes, half-expecting the results Ethan had promised but knowing
they wouldn't come to pass.
Finally the man went to his knees, exhausted after his fruitless attempts. He dragged
himself to his feet and shook his head at Rupert. "Maybe another time," he said,
more a notification than an apology
Rupert chuckled, grabbing the magic book out of Ethan's tired arms and walking forward.
Ethan only smirked at his friend's bravado and shrugged, going through the room lighting
the candles again.
He saw the sloppy star on the ground, then kneeled to improve the drawing. He placed the
podium a little to the left, exactly in the middle of the star. Rupert smiled, satisfied
at his work, then held the book in his right hand. The other hand splayed an inch over the
skull's surface, careful not to touch it at any moment.
His voice began intoning the spell at the same time Ethan lighted the last candle.
Ethan's eyes widened when the energy broke into a mad dance around them, becoming yellow
red and violet out of the corner of his eyes. Rupert's hair stood on end, almost as if
wanting to flee from the cacophony of sounds coming from within the five-pointed star. The
voice that had often sounded shy to Ethan's ears was now precise and determined, tasting
every word before releasing it into the spell.
There was wind, sending Ethan and every unattached item crashing into the wind.
There was light, almost blinding him when he'd recovered enough from the hit.
The room was washed in red hues, Rupert a figure greaters than life standing daringly in
the middle of the chaos. His back was straight, his eyes sparkling.
There was laughing, nothing like the polite, quiet laughs Ethan had caught in the younger
man. "Come, Ethan."
He obeyed without even thinking who was supposed to be the apprentice and who the master.
He stopped a foot behind his friend, almost jumping out of his skin when he saw the
distorted face that now stared at them instead of the lifeless skull. It made a gesture
and a hole appeared in the middle of it, then sounds were made. His mouth, it's talking,
it's talking! Ethan thought in a rush. His surprise escalated when Rupert - goody-good,
mild-mannered Rupert - answered with the same guttural sounds, eyes shining with the same
power Ethan had felt before.
The head moved up and down. A nod. Then Rupert lifted a hand and mumbled some words. A
minute later everthing was back into its place, minus the chalk star and the empty podium
before them.
"W-What." Ethan coughed. "What did you do?"
Rupert shrugged, flashing him a grin that bespoke of deep thoughts. "Some minor
incubus, I let it free and now it owes me."
"Us," Ethan corrected without thinking.
His friend's eyes narrowed. Then he calmed down and smiled, patting Ethan's arm in easy
friendship. Ethan relaxed. Rupert put the book in his hands and made to leave the room.
"Me," he repeated darkly as he walked past him.
Ethan shook his head. Chaos was his aim, but not in someone else's hands. He had a bad
feeling about this.
The End
10/11/04
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