Day 60, late afternoon

[gwenyth_b_good]

The soldiers on the practice fields were thinning in numbers as they began to retire for the day. After his talk with icAnissina, Gwendal had wandered out to the fields to think about what he had gotten himself into. On one hand he was excited to think about a new theme park in this world; on the other hand, the rumors he had heard about her and

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[lavendar_blade]

Gunter was in a pleasant mood finally as he was with pleasant enough company. Gwen had an enthisiasm for life that made him easy to like.

"In Kliest many of our buildings and fortifications are made by using magics. The older they are the more likely that's the case. Although strictly speaking earth wielders are not as common in my province, the land seems more suited to those of either wind or water since we have many lakes and low laying grasslands."

"It's interesting if you look at the geography mazoku live in after several generations they tend to become suited to and favor contracts with elements that will benefit them most in their daily lives. It's not encouraged to use it for small tasks mind you, one mustn't become reliant on it and you can end up with magic drain from daily use over long periods of time just as you can from using it too much all at once. But still, some of the most beautiful structures I've seen are formed by magic alone."

It was a nice change of pace to have someone who actually didn't try to run away or hide from him when he tried to have an interesting conversation. The most response he got from his own Gwendal most of the time was an uninterested grunt. And Heika, he honestly hadn't seen more of a glimpse of his student in two days.

[gwenyth_b_good]

"Fascinating. I'm sure such buildings would give me much to ponder. How they were put together, how the structural integrity was maintained. The sheer artistry that I can see wind and water maryoku creating." Gwendal rode silently for a few moments. He was quite intrigued by Gunter's words. "Fascinating."

He laughed. "I used magic all of the time on my world. I built a high tolerance to the drain. It was either work through it or be cast aside for someone else. I was just a demon; I could be easily replaced. Not so much later in my career, but certainly earlier on. I learned how to parse out my powers so that I wasn't exhausted from day to day and eventually, I hardly felt the drain at all. However, sadly, those days are past. I don't believe that I'll ever return to full strength. It's just as well. Head work is as much fun as hard work, if you get my meaning."

He was pretty sure that

[lavendar_blade]

"Perhaps in time Gisela will find a solution for you. She's very talented you know. I would think a happy medium between the two would be best if you can find it."

Shinou knew most days Gunter ended up not only planning everything but doing most of the work himself or it wouldn't get done. He frowned quietly to himself. Time with Gwen was nice but he had left a lot of important tasks back at the castle. He shook his head and gave his attention back to Gwen since he didn't want to seem rude by ignoring him. They were nearly to the cove now and he'd been promised a demonstration.

"Have you ever built anything like a windmill or a paddle wheel Gwen? New more efficient designs would be of great interest to me. We're always looking for ways to generate power that don't involve damming rivers and altering their natural course."

"Ever since my trip to Heikas homeland I've been interested in finding out how they were able to light their great cities at night without torches or lamps or even magics. They called it 'elek-tra-city' or at least that's how I remember it. Did they have anything like that on your world?"

[gwenyth_b_good]

Gwendal explained to Gunter in detail about the rides and how they were propelled, some by demons and others by mechanical means. He had never heard of this 'elek-tra-city' and wondered briefly if it was an urban theme park, but that didn't jibe with what Gunter was saying. Perhaps these lights that he spoke of were similar to Gwen's world's EBUs or enclosed burn units. He had always hated the EBU jokes that had circulated freely among his halfer co-workers, like 'How many demons does it take to change an EBU? None, they get the demons to do it.' And then they'd show Gwendal which one needed changed. But that was neither here nor there.

When they reached the water slide, Gwendal was a bit dismayed by its condition. It had obviously been used since he had last been there, and used a lot, but the mud had dried out and large cracks had appeared. He turned to Gunter. "I'd like to repair it. I wasn't expecting it to last longer than a day and I was weaker then, so I didn't pack the earth as I should have. But since it seems to get a lot of use, I thought I'd patch it up so that the locals can enjoy it. Do you have a way to lift water with your wind magic? What I need is to have the slides re-moistened in order for the mend to hold."

(OOC: Sorry. I didn't realize it had been that long. Tough week/weekend. We should prob wrap this up.)

[lavendar_blade]

"Oh, why all these innovations and on such a grand scale, it sounds like you come from a world of great achievements Gwen! Perhaps you could even teach our Lady Anissina a few things, preferably ones that won't blow up."

Gunter laughed a little at the thought of her trying to figure out how to work out a roller coaster or other such ride. He certainly knew better than to volunteer for that test run.

"Well, I suppose I could do it that way, but it would be much simpler and less tiring to use a water spell."

With a few small hand gestures and a whispered word or two Gunter had the lake rising in a neat column of water before them as tall as the slide and it moved off to circle around Gwens structure and brush up against it's sides.

It was common knowledge that Gunter was the young Maohs teacher, but few people realized why he had been chosen over anyone else. It was his knowledge and ability to control all four elements and their poor disadvantaged Kings complete lack of any magical training. All the elements were naturally at the Maohs beck and call. It made a great deal of sense to call upon Gunter and his rare and hard won academic mastery, he was the perfect teacher for any student no matter what their element was. If only his royal student had the desire to learn instead of skipping out on his lessons.

[gwenyth_b_good]

Gwendal chuckled at Gunter's comment. "Not to alarm you, but the Lady Anissina approached me this morning about showing her some of the wonders of my world. I'm to demonstrate basic mecha-botics to her after this festival thing is over."

He climbed the stairs to the top of the smallest slide to examine the supports of the three structures and hollered down. "So tell me about this festival. I heard something about presents?" It was the middle slide that worried him the most. IC Gwendal had helped with the tallest slide, and Gwen had started the construction of the smallest and the foundations of the other two slides when he was still fresh. By the time he reached the middle slide, he had been pretty exhausted and the cracks and crevices now appearing were the evidence of that. He headed for the top of the middle slide for closer examination, calling down to Gunter, "This one's not safe at all. It should probably come down." As he carefully set foot on top of the platform for a closer look, a chunk of slide gave way under his weight. The dark-haired man tumbled awkwardly down the slide, his head and body careening off the sides, and landing with an undignified splash in the water below. For a brief moment, he couldn't understand why it was hard to breath or why he was looking at rocks and fish, but then it didn't matter as his mind abandoned his body in search of a nice, dry, meditative coma.

[lavendar_blade]

The lamplight glowed softly in the evening gloom of the quiet bedroom. The warmth of the sunset had long since faded away from the tall arched windows and the wavering flame cast long shadows across the carpets that reached ominously towards the bed.

Gunter cast the encroaching darkness a sharp glare as if he would defeat that too in defense of his friend. The unmoving figure that lay bundled in downy blankets and a cold compress on his forehead kept the mazoku Lord in his place at the bedside. He was just as unmoving no matter how late the hour became.

He had vowed not to abandon his comrade until he saw some signs of improvement. The healers on duty had examined him thoroughly and there wasn't much else they could do that Gunter himself hadn't tried with his own first aid training and basic healing spells. He was not however one to believe their placations easily. They said Gwen would be fine now with a good nights rest, but Gunter had seen the way they shook their heads when they examined his lungs. Any weakness or flaw in a mazoku was always frowned upon, especially with those used to military life where lives were staked upon ones ability to perform. If those same healers were to get a good look at Gunter himself it would mean worse trouble so he had stayed grimly yet demandingly quiet while they worked.

Gunter knew he should never have dragged Gwen all the way up to the lake in the first place. He should have seen those cracks in the slide for the danger they were. He should have done something, anything, other than just stand there and let the poor engineer fall. He had completely lost sight of him until he heard that dreadful splash at the bottom of the slide.

He couldn't help lowering his head for a few sniffles into his handkerchief as he thought about how terribly wrong their lovely summer outing had gone. Only hours ago they had been laughing together on a sunny holiday beach.

Gunter had begun to like this new and different Gwendal a great deal, definitely more than he should for only knowing him such a short amount of time. He didn't keep many close friends and was usually very slow at trusting but Gwen had won him over so quickly. Gunter would never forgive himself if anything were to mar that bright spirit, especially when it was entirely his fault.

[gwenyth_b_good]

Falling, falling, falling. What a weird feeling. Like floating through air but with limbs that were too heavy to work. He knew he was going to crash land, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, and frankly, he didn't care. The feeling of falling was too heady. Nearing the ground, his body accelerated. With no control of his limbs, he should have been scared, but instead he watched, observing dispassionately. As he gained speed, he plummeted head-first as the earth sped up to meet him. Closer, closer, closer. At the moment of impact, he closed his eyes, only to reopen them as he broke the surface of the water on the other side, gasping for air. He coughed, searching for air. Springing from the water, he flailed his arms, trying to find some footing under the water. He coughed again to clear his lungs and suck in more air, but it sounded far away. The pull of two worlds, one hard, the other fluid, struggled against each other within him. He desperately searched for something to ground him.

The dark-haired man on the bed coughed. He coughed again. His feet kick off the suffocating covers as his body writhed, trying to contact the mind that was looking for the body.

(OOC: He's coming around. BTW, I re-read an earlier post. It should have read - how many halfers does it take to screw in an EBU? None, they get a demon to do it.

[lavendar_blade]

The lace edged handkerchief fell to the floor as Gunter jumped up. He tried to hold the larger mazoku still to keep him from hurting himself or falling off the bed entirely. It wasn't a very easy task since he didn't want to bruise him when he had just had an awful lot of those healed.

"Gwen! Gwendal, wake up! Please, It's alright, you're safe!"

He called as he held the broad shoulders down to the softness of the pillows. Gunter did hope that he wasn't frightening his friend more since on Gwens own world he was counted as an enemy.

[gwenyth_b_good]

Gunther! He heard the voice of his old enemy and felt the hard push on his shoulders from the man on top of him. Gwendal tried to cry out, but the sound wouldn't come. He found himself back on his world, in his house, at the mercy of Gunther, Alissina at his back. But something wasn't right. Gunther was restraining him with strength, yet not hurting him. The voice he heard in his head was pleading with him to wake up, telling him he was safe. Gunther would never do that. Gunther had harmed him. No, this wasn't Gunther. It took him another moment to place the voice as his consciousness came flowing back to him. Gunter! It didn't matter which one. He'd figure that out in a minute. Right now, what was important was that it was a Gunter and not Gunther. He stopped struggling and slowly opened his eyes. They flooded with tears at the sight of the lovely man before him. "Hey" was all he could manage to say.

[lavendar_blade]

"Ah, Gwen!"

Gunter smiled with great relief as his friend finally stopped struggling. He was somewhat out of breath for his efforts at holding him still and he brushed some hair from his face with delicate fingers.

"I'm so glad you're awake! You gave me such a scare up at the lake, your whole tower came down on top of us!"

He looked Gwen over with eyes that were large and vivid in the lamplight and still showed tear tracks beneath them. He backed away gently off the bed until he was kneeling at the bedside and he clutched at the nearest larger tanned hand to hold in both of his own.

"The healers said your fine but you need a good nights rest. Do you want me to bring you anything? We've missed supper but I could go and make you something so you can get your strength back. And I promise I'll replace your slide myself! I should never have let you go up there at all. "

" It was my fault Gwen, I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything more for you."

[gwenyth_b_good]

"Lake? Tower?" Slowly, as the nightmarish Gunther receded and the fog cleared in Gwendal's brain, he began to put the pieces of what had happened together. "I don't care about the slide, Gunter. It's not important." He squeezed Gunter's fingers in his hand. "You're not hurt, are you?" Gwendal couldn't quite understand how it was Gunter's fault, but he was too tired and sore to argue...for now. He said gently, "Why don't you go and fix us something to eat?" Performing a helpful task might make Gunter feel better about the incident. "We can talk after I'm a little more rested." And frankly, it looked like Gunter could use some rest too.

[lavendar_blade]

"Oh, but it was your gift to the people who visit the lake. Surely they'll miss such a grand structure! The children especially must have loved it and I could never stand to let them loose a rare playground such as that. I'll go and replace it as soon as I get you some dinner."

Gunter was on his feet in an instant happy and beaming that Gwen was feeling well enough to ask for food. He fluffed his pillow fussily and tucked him back in. He gave his hand one last pat.

"You just stay right here and rest and I'll send one of the servants up with something right away!"

[gwenyth_b_good]

Gwendal smiled weakly. He wondered if he should supervise the building of a new slide since there were a few safety requirements that he liked to build into his work. Granted, this slide had failed, but that only made him want to ensure that they were safer than they had been. He was glad that he had been the only one injured and not some poor village child. "Let me help you with it, Gunter. It was my faulty construction that led to this in the first place. Together, we can make it stronger and safer. Promise me you'll go rest for awhile. Taking care of me has surely been an ordeal for you too. The slide can wait a day or two, can't it?" He was worried about his friend. A vision of Gunther flashed through his mind, but he pushed it aside. How odd that he liked both of the doubles of his enemy.

[lavendar_blade]

" I apologize if I offended your artistic pride Gwen. I didn't mean to take over your project like that, of course I'll wait for you to supervise. I'll build it any way you wish."

Gunter walked a few paces away into the room away from the golden circle of lamplight that bathed the ridges of blankets on the bed. He didn't know that he could face his friend when he had to recount his shameful and lazy behaviour.

" I was the one who asked you to go all the way up there and show it to me and it was hardly fair to take up so much of your time for such a foolish whim. I thought you could tell where the weaker points of maryoku were in the structure. I should have said something before you went climbing on it. I could have offered to go with you and help but I let my own weakness get the better of me and used it as an excuse to stay with the horses. It was selfish and inexcusable and it could have gotten you killed. And when you fell I wasn't even able to stop it. I couldn't get to you until you were already in the water and by then everything was crumbling. You were hurt and your structure was entirely ruined and it nearly crushed you. The healers said you were lucky not to have any permanent damage from the head wounds I repaired."

His thin shoulders had slumped as he tried to explain his mistakes. He honestly wasn't sure if Gwen would ever want to speak to him again.

[gwenyth_b_good]

Gwendal pulled a hand out from under the covers to rub his chin. What could he say to the man that would make a difference? "You haven't offended me, good sir. It was my choice to go up there. Old habits die hard, Gunter. I've always been the hands-on type. I wouldn't have been satisfied if I hadn't checked it out from the top. I knew it was unsafe, but I underestimated by how much. Frankly, I'm glad it was me and not some villager. And I'm sorry to give you such a fright."

He smiled slightly as he tried to see his friend's face in the darkness. "On the plus side, I did say the slide had to come down. This little incident saves us some effort." Pausing to pull both arms out from under the blankets, he said, "I know this might be inappropriate, but would you come here, Gunter? I need to give you a hug for saving me. I thought I was going back to my world, but you anchored me here. I can't thank you enough."