by Unknown
Negative energies were too dangerous to leave be. They caused unpredictable results in other magics and mucked with spell casting in ways that no scientist could explain. In order to be on campus—or really, anywhere in public where magic was used—Adam had to have his negative energy bound. Unfortunately, the only counter—and it was an imperfect counter—was fire energy. That meant the binding spell had to be cast and renewed by a fire mage.
The negative energies were also a pain in that they eroded the fire magic binding them slowly, which meant the spell had to be renewed, usually once a year. If the binding spell wasn't renewed promptly, it had to be cast from scratch. To make things more difficult, there was only a small window of opportunity for renewing the spell, as well. The binding spell was constantly being worn down, but the spell could only be safely renewed after a year.
However, if the spell wasn't renewed within a week or two of the anniversary of the last binding, enough negative energy was unblocked to make it dangerous to renew the spell. That meant waiting until the countering spell wore off completely—usually another year, sometimes two—and then casting the spell from scratch.
Based on the dates Madison's professor had given him, he really only had that day and the next to cast the renewal spell. After that, it was no longer safe, and Adam would have to wait an entire year to try again, during which time he wouldn't be allowed on campus.
If Madison were a more malicious person, he would purposefully screw this up. He wasn't though, and while he might not like Adam, he'd been honest when Adam asked him why. He didn't hate Adam, and he wasn't going to be a brat and mess up Adam's university studies by screwing him over with the binding.
Madison finished carving the last symbol and sat back, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. He was dirty and sweaty and tired, but he couldn't complain. He'd known what he was signing up for. Madison didn't sheath his knife—it was still dirty and the cleaning cloth was in his bag. Instead, he stood up and headed back over to the spell book to double check the symbols for the outermost circle. The sun was getting closer to the top of the sky, so there wasn't much time left before noon. Still, if he hadn't screwed anything up, they should be set.
"Thanks," Madison said absently, taking the bottle of water Adam passed him. He knelt down next to the book, tracing his finger over the symbols and muttering their order under his breath for the hundredth time. Standing, he took a long swig of the warm water and wandered into the circle again. He verified the last few symbols then gestured at Adam to come closer.
"Check it for me?" Madison asked, smothering a yawn with another swig of water. He'd kill for a bottle of ice cold water, but he doubted there were any convenience stores lurking in the middle of the desert for the rare mage who wanted a cold bottle of water.
Adam nodded, and Madison wandered out of the circle, the ground hot and gritty beneath his bare feet. He should probably put his shoes back on, but the thought of baking his feet in the confines of his shoes was unappealing. He'd just deal with the heat; in less than an hour he should be passed out, and he wouldn't care about his feet then. Dropping the empty water bottle next to their bags, Madison sat down heavily underneath the shaded overhang Adam had rigged up with canvas and thin plastic rods.
Glancing over at the spell circle, Madison watched Adam prowl the spell circle, nodding and occasionally mumbling something to himself. It was cute, and Madison watched Adam for a moment longer despite his intention to dig out another bottle of water. Adam had stripped down to just jeans and a pale yellow t-shirt. He was barefoot, following Madison's example, and a frown of concentration furrowed his brow as he studied the marks Madison had carved.
It was a good look for him, and it was far too easy for Madison to imagine that look of concentration in a more intimate setting.
Scowling at himself, Madison jerked his gaze away and reached for his bag. Maybe the heat was getting to him, even if he was lying if he tried to say that was the first time such a thought had crossed his mind.
It didn't matter how attractive Adam was, Madison thought, finally finding an unopened water bottle at the bottom of his bag. All evidence pointed to Adam's being interested in women, and that was even discounting that Madison was obligated to not like Adam for his treatment of Madison's sister. He didn't like Adam at all, anyway.
"Looks good to me," Adam said, approaching with a smile. He looked happy, but he usually did whenever Madison saw him. Adam didn't seem to have settings other than 'happy' or 'dejected,' and the latter was usually after some biting comment from Madison. "Thanks for letting me look it over."
"You've done this more than I have," Madison said, shrugging dismissively. He glanced up at the sun, frowning and tilting his head pensively. "Half an hour to go til noon?"
"Thereabouts," Adam agreed after studying the sun's position for a moment. He settled on the ground next to Madison under the shade of the overhang. It was too close for Madison's liking, but there was only so much room under the canvas Adam had rigged up, and Madison wasn't mean enough to kick him out into the sun. That was his biggest problem, really; he wasn't mean enough, and Adam kept taking that as an opening.
Madison sat silently, studying the spell circles as he sipped slowly at the bottle of water. Adam shifted restlessly beside him, the cheap plastic of his water bottle crinkling loudly as he toyed with it. Madison glanced at him without really meaning to, frowning when he realized that Adam was staring at him, obviously hesitating to say something.
"What?" Madison asked, too tired and hot to put any real venom into it
"Nothing," Adam said, but the tone of his voice and the way his eyes skittered away when he said it belied that. Madison sighed and rolled his eyes for good measure just so Adam would be completely aware of how unimpressed he was by that answer.
"Look, just—" Adam said, his voice laced with frustration. "The thing with Lydia, it was never a thing. She just didn't want to admit that she wasn't… that I didn't want her."
"Right, so," Madison said crisply, jamming the plastic cap back onto his water bottle and favoring Adam with a scathing look. "You just saw her and decided you wanted to be friends with her, and that was all? You did approach her, did you not?"
"I did, but just to ask—I just wanted to ask her about—" Adam stammered out, looking miserable and tired. Madison nearly felt bad, but he wasn't going to let Adam trick him into that. Lydia had sounded quite upset in her email, and then insisted on not talking about it when they'd met for lunch the following week. Lydia always wanted to gossip, so Adam had really hurt her feelings.
"About Emma, right," Madison finished for him, rolling his eyes again. He dropped the water bottle back into his bag and stood. "I'm going to go double check the circle."
Madison started walking that way, but Adam didn't let him get more than a few steps, scrambling to his feet and grabbing Madison's arm. Madison tripped and would have fallen, except Adam managed to both keep him upright and turn Madison so he was face to face with Adam's chin.
"What—" Madison began, scowling and jerking his arm free of Adam's grasp.
"Emma?" Adam asked incredulously, cutting off Madison's angry question. "I never—Madison, I thought—" Adam stopped, visibly taking a deep breath and collecting himself before continuing. "It wasn't Emma, Madison. It was you. I thought you knew that."
"Wait, is that supposed to make it better? You strung my sister along for a chance at me? How was that going to work?" Madison sneered, crossing his arms and glaring. Why had Lydia lied about that, though? Adam was too damn earnest about it to be lying—unless he was a better actor than Madison gave him credit for. Besides, what good would it really do Adam to proclaim he'd been after Madison instead of Lydia's roommate Emma
"I didn't string her along!" Adam shouted, throwing up his hands and scowling angrily. "She was the one stringing me along!" Madison snorted in disbelief, making Adam slouch, hunching his shoulders together dejectedly.
"She was," Adam muttered,
and he didn't drop his gaze as Madison expected, but stared unflinching and sullen at Madison. "I wanted to ask her, to find out if you would be at all receptive to me asking you to dinner or if you would light me on fire for asking. She wouldn't say, but kept making me meet up with her, promising to tell me, but never actually telling me anything about you, so I gave up and stopped meeting her when she asked, and then she started that damn rumor that I'd played her."
Madison narrowed his eyes at Adam, considering. Adam was Lydia's type—tall, handsome, and magically powerful. She'd also obviously lied about where Adam's interests lay; Madison didn't doubt that Adam was being genuine when he said he'd been interested in Madison, not Emma. He was too earnest, though that was probably past tense now. Madison refused to think about that, though, and instead focused on Lydia—obviously he needed to talk to her again.
In the meantime, he had to figure out how to deal with Adam. Getting the binding ceremony done with was the first thing. Then he could sort out what the truth was and go from there. Glancing up at the sun, Madison decided they had about fifteen minutes before he had to cast. Turning sharply on his bare heel, Madison headed for the spell circle.
"What, that's it?" Adam asked, his footsteps sounding far too loud as he followed Madison.
Scowling, Madison whirled back around, nearly running into Adam. Glaring up at him, Madison stuck his jaw out stubbornly and demanded, "What do you want, Adam? For me to just forget everything Lydia said and believe you and you alone? I did that with Lydia and look how well that turned out!" Adam had the grace to look sheepish, but Madison glared at him a long moment more anyway to drive home the point.
"What do you suggest, then?" Adam asked, quieter and no small bit hopeful, though it was obvious he was trying to hide that. Madison frowned. Maybe Adam wasn't completely over his interest? More likely he was hoping to make nice so that Madison wouldn't mess up the casting for him.
"I suggest we double check the spell circle and then cast the binding," Madison said tartly, then, when Adam's face fell, added, "Then I can pass out, we'll go back to campus, and I'll get the truth out of Lydia."
"How?" Adam asked morosely. "She'll just lie again." He looked like a kicked puppy, but Madison refused to feel bad. He was just being practical, after all.
"She's my sister," Madison said darkly. "I have ways of making her tell the truth."
"Then what?" Adam asked, eyeing Madison warily, as if Madison might suggest lighting them all on fire. That was a tempting solution, but the fines for that were outrageous.
"Depends on what the truth is," Madison said, shrugging. Adam nodded, apparently accepting that, though he still looked morose and dejected. Madison hesitated; he had been planning to leave it at that, but if Adam was telling the truth… well, Madison would feel terrible in his place. "Since I won't be able to find out until we get back to campus, we'll just have to meet up later this week."
Adam looked startled, but he rallied quickly. "I'm usually in the student center for lunch? At the café. You could meet me there?"
Madison pretended to think about it for a moment, just to make Adam squirm, because he didn't want Adam to think he was giving in that easily. "That should work. I don't know when I'll get the chance to talk to her, so it could be later in the week."
"That's fine," Adam said, giving Madison a wide, happy smile. He definitely wasn't lying about his interest in Madison, unless Madison was completely misreading the situation. It also wasn't a past tense interest, and Madison… would deal with that later.
"Good," Madison said, letting a tiny smile slip. Adam beamed even more widely, and Madison turned away from it before he did something stupid like say he believed Adam and why didn't they just skip right to dinner on Friday? "We need to do the spell. I don't want to be out here tomorrow because we missed the window for casting."
"Right, of course," Adam said, falling into step beside Madison as he headed towards the circle. "Thank you for doing this, really. I don't know what I would have done if—"
"Adam," Madison said, cutting him off. "We've been over this. You don't have to thank me. I would have done it for anyone." Adam's face fell slightly, and Madison hesitated, but in the end couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Look, if it turns out you're telling the truth, you can thank me with dinner. That's more than enough. Now get in your spot and shut up."
Adam laughed, brightening, apparently not at all put off by Madison's bossiness. That was good— Madison was bossy a lot, and if Adam couldn't put up with it… and now Madison was thinking long- term, and he really needed not to do that. At least, not until after he talked with Lydia again. Shaking his head, Madison followed Adam to the center of the spell circle.
Adam took his place in the topmost triangle carved within the innermost circle, while Madison put one foot in each of the remaining two triangles, then held out his hands. He ignored the thrill he felt when Adam took his hands and instead looked up to study the position of the sun.
"Good?" Madison asked. Adam nodded, squeezing his hands. Madison ignored that, shutting his eyes so he could concentrate. Calling up the energy that always burned, bright and steady at the back of his mind, Madison let it course through his veins. Holding it for a moment, Madison simply reveled in the feel of his magical energy, taking slow, deep breaths before feeling out the lines of the spell circle.
Once he could feel the lines of the circle, Madison shoved, pushing all of his energy into the spell circle. Brilliant green flames spun out along the lines of the spell circle, flaring high above Madison's head. Madison didn't feel their heat—he never did—and he smiled to see them, even as the flames immediately began to die down.
He was gripping Adam's hands too tightly, Madison realized, and he forced his hands to relax. Madison frowned, wondering if the spell had worked. There was no way to tell from his end of it. He had successfully fed all his energy into the circle, though, and that was a good sign. If the spell circle had been incomplete, the energy would have ricocheted back around to find him again.
That would have hurt more than being drained would, and Madison hoped the after effects waited a few more minutes before kicking in. He felt oddly hollow, but that was normal. He'd only drained himself twice before: once accidentally before he had any training, and another time in the lab when he'd accidentally mis-carved a symbol in a spell circle.
"Did it work?" Madison asked. The last of his green flames died out, leaving nothing but scorched spell lines behind. Madison blinked; he would have to remember to clear the casting circle when he woke up, since there was no way for him to do it now.
"Perfectly," Adam said, squeezing Madison's hands. "Thank you."
Madison shrugged, flushing and feeling a little dizzy. Adam's touch wasn't that special… then his head spun again, and Madison remembered, oh yeah, side effects. That thought was quickly followed by another dizzy spell, and Madison gratefully leaned on Adam, pleased that Adam at least had the sense to be a sturdy person.
He was barely aware as Adam led him out of the spell circle and over to the makeshift shelter Adam had set up. Then the heat of the sun was substituted for the barely cooler shade, and Adam pushed him down on the rolled out sleeping bag with the admonition to sleep. Madison tried to retort that it was more like passing out, but he was already gone.
*~*~*
Madison barely remembered the hike back to Adam's car or the drive back to campus. Adam respected that Madison wanted nothing more than to sleep; he kept quiet the entire drive as Madison passed out, stretched out in the back seat of Adam's tiny blue car. Adam also walked him to his dorm room. His was a single because the university had long learned that the perils of rooming fire mages with other students outweighed the expense of assigning all fire mages to single rooms.
Madison managed a somewhat coherent goodbye, then immediately collapsed into bed.
He woke up fourteen hours later, starving but feeling much more awake and alive than he had since the casting. If he had his days right, it was Monday,
which meant classes. That would make it difficult to track Lydia down if she wasn't in her room. Thankfully, Madison didn't have to worry about classes until Wednesday; he'd been given Monday and Tuesday off from classes for his part in the casting spell. He also was excused from any complex spell casting for a few weeks until his energy was back at a respectable level.
Since he had nowhere to be, he could get a late… lunch, Madison decided after a glance at the clock. Then he could drop by Lydia's room and head back here to do some of the homework that he'd meant to do over the weekend before he'd gotten roped into Adam's binding. Madison changed quickly and jammed a hat on over his bed hair. Food was currently taking precedence over washing the desert off.
An hour later, Madison stood outside his sister's dorm room. The door was decorated in the typical Price Hall fashion. There was a pink-framed whiteboard with a purple marker attached on which had been drawn pink hearts, purple flowers, and the message Lydia and Emma live here written in blue. The RA for the floor had created door tags in the shape of gift bags; the bags were pink with yellow polka dots with real, lime green tissue paper glued to the top.
Madison shifted impatiently, then gave in and knocked again. He hated visiting Price. It was the only all- women dormitory building on campus, and the students that inhabited the hall always acted like he was the first guy they had ever seen and like it was against the rules for him to be there. It wasn't, not until after ten o'clock. He still had several hours before then, and he was visiting his sister, not up to no good.
No one was answering the door, and Madison frowned. He'd thought he'd heard some noise from within the room. Price wasn't the newest of dorms, though. There was every chance the sound he'd heard had come from another room. Lydia was probably out then.
Shrugging, Madison turned away, glaring at the woman who was hovering in her doorway across the hall and two doors down. She just stared at him, looking rather like she was taking notes on his appearance, and Madison rolled his eyes as he left the building. Perhaps he should have gotten that shower before visiting. It was very possible he looked like a complete bum.
