(x) Irregular Magic

chapter 24 - mouth full of glass

"You're heavy," whined Luciel, struggling with the dead weight of nearly two-hundred pounds of a very drunk newly-ranked mage.

Hamel muttered a rude suggestion to the younger boy under his breath, to which he gave a squeal of indignation and released him. No longer supported by Luciel, he dropped to the wooden floorboards with a clunk, his head painfully colliding with the leg of a nearby stool. He let out a belated, low grunt and stirred but didn't get up.

"Leave him there," said a cold female voice from somewhere above. "He deserves it."

"But won't he catch a cold?" asked Luciel, clearly worried.

"Won't he catch a cold," Aris muttered in response. "If he's worth even two crystals as a mage, he won't." A booted foot prodded his side. 

There was a tiny sigh, quiet and sad. 

The anger rushed out of her like a gust of wind. "You know I don't mean it, Luc." She bent down and attempted to lift him by the shoulders.

"He makes life difficult for you," he said in response, squatting down to help. "I wish he wouldn't."

"He doesn't do it on purpose," said Aris wearily.

"No, but he hurts you anyway." The silence between them lasted as Aris helped their inebriated friend lean on Luciel for support. "I haven't seen him this drunk in a long time. Do you think he's lapsing again?"

"You haven't seen him in a long time," Aris reminded him. "But still, I think tonight's as good a reason as he's ever had. Not that he always drank unreasonably. It's not like being Amill Zanatos' son is particularly great." Luciel didn't reply, and Aris added, a little irritably, "I know you respected him, Luc. Everyone did. But for a kid, that's hard. Hamel never felt like he measured up. And Master Amill expected a lot from him. Too much, sometimes. He didn't just want Hamel to be like him. He wanted Hamel to do more, to surpass him. And well..." She shrugged. "He tried his best. Sometimes that's enough. Sometimes it's not."

Luciel exhaled slowly, digesting this. "I wonder what happened."

"I think it's pretty obvious what happened."

Aris pushed open the heavy doors with her foot and together they helped Hamel into the fresh air. Outside, darkness had fallen like a heavy curtain. The brief rain earlier that afternoon had made everything damp and muddy. The mud stuck to their boots and at some point, they had lost their grip on their friend and he slipped face first into a puddle. It was slow, tiring work. Hamel was taller than both of them, and built sturdily, like his father. Not to mention he had put on quite a bit of muscle in the years he had been gone.

"I wonder where he was," mused Luciel. "What he did. He was gone for nearly five years."

"He has a lot of scars," said Aris in a voice that was barely above a whisper. There was a tremor in her hands. "I wish he would tell me things."

Luciel gnawed on his lip. "He tells you more than he tells me."

As they neared Heavenroot, Aris ran ahead to get help. Stoic Carrowan, followed unexpectedly by Junas and Dorcia. The older witch, whose eyes were narrowed in distaste, clicked her teeth at the sight of Luciel nearly falling over as he tried to support Hamel's substantial weight. Junas also seemed to have tagged along to observe rather than to help. Carrowan, who towered over everyone including Hamel, easily took the weight on his own. Hamel's arms hung limply as Carrowan lifted him over his shoulders as if he were a particularly delicate log.

"He's always a troublesome one," she chided, one hand on her hip.

"His father died not a moon ago," shot Luciel defensively.