My Little Wizard: Music is Magic (Telemain)

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin was experimenting. Technically he supposed he probably ought to be in the magic building to do this, but he was using his guitar, and the rooms here were better soundproofed. He had at least found an empty classroom and pushed all the desks to the side to clear a space.

He'd read something in a book about enchantments woven through song, and it had intrigued him somewhat. Most of the time, when learning new spells, he stuck to the method of casting that he knew best, but he was an academic at heart and it just wouldn't be right to leave a place of such varied and interesting magic without doing a few experiments in alternative spell casting.

Which was why he was sitting on a desk in an empty music classroom, guitar in hand, trying to make a pillow levitate. If only he could find the right chords to do it...

[telemain]

Henry Charming (who was definitely not a homosexual, contrary to Telemain's first impression of him) had been suggesting that Telemain try out Drama Club. While Telemain wasn't entirely sold on the idea, he was visiting the Urquhart Building. Who knew? Maybe Drama Club would somehow have the need for someone with an actual brain in their head.

And low and behold, he spotted another magic student, holding a guitar and...was he trying to make a pillow levitate? Well, first things first, he needed to put down the guitar so he could focus on his spell. He was probably an amateur. Well, he couldn't have that. He would rush in and save the day!

Without analyzing the scene before his eyes further, Telemain boldly strode up to the other boy and his guitar and pillow and snapped his fingers, having by now non-verbalized the spell for levitating small objects. Sure enough, the pillow rose up in one swift, smooth moment. Perfect.

"Hello, I'm Telemain," He said, holding out his hand to the dark-haired boy. "Your spell wasn't working there, so I did it for you. In future, you should put down your guitar, so you can focus fully on your spellcasting. Concentration is vital for novice magicians."

[Merlin Emrys]

For a very long moment, Merlin just stared at the boy in amazement. Really? Had that really just happened? He didn't understand how somebody could be so perceptive of what he was attempting to do, and so blindly oblivious at the same time. He also wasn't sure whether to be more offended at the barging in, at the unsolicited advice or at being called a 'novice'. Eventually, he took a deep breath and tried his very best to give the boy the benefit of the doubt - he, after all, did not know what was going on and had simply made certain assumptions.

"I have no trouble performing levitation spells," he explained as calmly as he could manage "I was merely experimenting with the idea of using music to channel a spell, the way one might normally use words. I do have to ask, however, why you felt the need to do the spell for me?" a tiny note of irritation crept into his voice as he said this "since I clearly didn't need the pillow levitated, and was quite obviously just practicing the spell, how exactly does it help to do it for me?"

[telemain]

Telemain stiffened as shame washed over him. Oh, whoops. The other boy was probably not only really good, but what he was doing actually sounded fascinating. Sheepishly, the pillow fell back down as Telemain stood there, stupidly.

"Um...I'm sorry. Like, really, really sorry." Telemain mumbled, still rooted to the spot, wishing for nothing more than to sink into the floor and out of sight. "That actually sounds really..." He searched for a word that a popular student might use, "...cool." He finished, flashing the other boy an awkward, shamed smile. "I can leave, if you want? Yeah, leaving..." He awkwardly began to back away.

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin immediately felt bad for letting the irritation into his voice, it was obvious that the other boy had just been trying to help and had gone about it in a terrible way. A simple mistake, and his instant apology made Merlin feel quickly more sympathetic.

"No, it's ok, sorry for being a little... snappy..." he wasn't sure if the other boy had noticed the tone, but he felt it better to apologise for it anyway, especially when he could do magic - the last thing he wanted to do was embarrass or upset a fellow magic student, not when there was a potential to make a friend he could share knowledge with.

"You don't have to leave," he said quickly, putting down his guitar and holding out a hand to him "how about we start this again? Hi, I'm Merlin."

[telemain]

Had the dark-haired boy not been using magic, Telemain would have cut his loses and left, sparing what little embarrassment he still had to feel mortified over, but his interest was also aroused. He hadn't met any other magicians...well, any student-magicians, and Gandalf liked to be a called a wizard, as nasty as those creatures usually were. Besides, the dark-haired boy was vaguely familiar.

"I'm Telemain." He said, shaking the boy's hand, noticing that he was even skinnier than Telemain as, which took some doing. "I'm sorry I called you a novice." He muttered, taking a seat next to Merlin. "I...well...magic is...my thing and for once, I thought I was the best in the room...sorry." He fumbled nervously with the hem of his shirt, which was new and actually flattered his slender form. Eric's shopping trips were starting to develop his fashion eye and do him some good.

"Anyway, what you're doing...marrying magic with music, sounds quite innovative. I've never even read about it. Has it even been attempted before? I wonder if it changes the size and speed of the magical molecules..."

[Merlin Emrys]

"Hey, maybe you are the best in the room, you don't know how good I am," Merlin responded cheerfully, trying to make him feel better - and he was being honest about it, much as he also considered magic his 'thing', and proud as he was of his skills, he still thought he had so much more to learn, and didn't like to get cocky about it.

"Magical molecules?" He repeated, and rather than confused or dismissive, he was utterly fascinated "that's not something I've encountered before, is that how it works in your world, something more like science?" perhaps it worked that way in every world, but he didn't have the equipment to test and realise it. Science and magic together, hmm? That was almost as interesting as music and magic. "I'm not sure if it's innovative, I've just read about some worlds where the two are closely linked. Given that my magic is performed with an incantation, I was wondering if I could achieve the same results if I found the right tune to focus my magical energies with."

[telemain]

"Well..." Telemain shrugged, not denying, but not quite owning Merlin's observance either. Telemain was a lot more full of himself than he had been when he had first arrived at Tintagel Academy, but he didn't want to appear like he was completely devoid of manners, especially after his display a moment ago.

"Well, yes, actually, in my world, more specifically, in my line of magic, science and magic go hand-in-hand. Most people don't bother with the intellectual, scientific part and they skip right ahead to blowing this up or disappearing in a shower of sparks. They usually end up being wizards. And that leads to them never taking showers or using deodorant. And that's just gross."

He looked at the guitar. He had never attempted to play any sort of musical instrument before, but now that he saw Merlin doing it, he was considering taking up something. He had heard that music theory was highly mathematical, after all.

"Do you mind if I try something?"

[Merlin Emrys]

"Being a wizard in your world means you don't take showers?" Merlin frowned, confused. Although the fact that 'wizard' apparently meant a bad thing where he came from reminded him of Cimorene... she had said something about greasy wizards, he was sure she had... perhaps they were from the same world? He was about to ask when Telemain interrupted his train of thought, and he forgot about his musing for the moment in the pursuit of science. Well, magic. Or both.

"Not at all, go ahead," Merlin nodded, interested to see what this boy had in mind. Where most people might have trouble following what Telemain had been saying, it had made perfect sense to Merlin.

[telemain]

"Exactly." Telemain confirmed, as if they were questioning whether or not the sky was blue. "And it's gross. No one knows why they don't shower, either. I think they might be allergic to shampoo, or something."

Telemain didn't wait for further permission. Directing his hands towards Merlin's guitar, he began to recite, speaking in rhyming couplets.

"To the magic in the bass and treble clefts,
Tell me where you keep your hidden secrets kept.
If you tell me of your ancient secrets, then please,
Show your enchanted notes for all to see."

With that, every note that Merlin played appeared in the air, colorfully illuminated by Telemain's spell. The young magician sat back on his heels, pleased with his handiwork, even though he was pushing back Gandalf's voice in his head, which was pointing out that the spell wasn't of any real use. Spells didn't always have to be practical; Telemain thought they could be a form of art, too. That and he just liked pretty things.

"What do you think?"

[Merlin Emrys]

"I wonder why doing magic would make you allergic to shampoo..." Merlin frowned thoughtfully. Based on what Telemain said, magic in his world probably wasn't something people were born with, and even if it was there was no reason that only people who used it in a certain way would develop this supposed allergy, so genetics were probably out as a cause. He wanted to ask more about the world and the way magic worked to try and figure out if there was some factor or if it was just a strange quirk that wizards happened to pick up, perhaps from each other, but Telemain had started speaking again, a spell this time, and Merlin's attention was drawn to it.

The immediate effect wasn't obvious, until he strummed his fingers lightly across the strings and the notes hung beautifully in the air, floating gently away from his guitar. He wasn't sure if there was a point to it, but he couldn't help but admire the look of it.

"Very pretty," he smiled, strumming a few more chords just to watch them appear.

[telemain]

"Aren't they?" Telemain chirped, still a little high from his own successful spell-casting. "And what's this!" Without further ado, he raised held up one finger and starting drawing imaginary lines in the air...only the lines weren't imaginary. Thick white lines, perfectly straight, appeared where Telemain's finger did and it wasn't long before he had drawn a grand staff. Then he started tapping the notes and dragging them onto the lines he had drawn, arranging them in a pattern as Merlin played.

"See! Now you have a record of your song!" He said, bouncing with excitement.

Telemain was naturally a show-off. He was smart and it was in his blood to want to do a good job. Sure, he liked the attention that often followed, but what really gave him joy was doing something right and improving other people's lives with his spells, oblivious to how annoying many of them found his 'helping' to be.

"Now you can write a jukebox musical about your life, like Frankie Valli or Peter Allen!"

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin didn't really mind him showing off, he completely understood the excitement that successful spells could cause in a person, and he was quite enjoying what he was seeing himself, so he grinned cheerfully at Telemain and nodded along with the other boy.

"That's brilliant, if I do find something that works as a conduit for the magic, that means I'll have an instant record of it, no risk of it getting lost or forgotten or misremembered," he said gratefully - though apparently Telemain had other ideas, and he laughed.

"That would be interesting, and probably a little strange for most people," he plucked a few notes on his guitar thoughtfully, slightly mischievous grin still on his face as he strummed a chord or two, launching into a song

"Living in Ealdor, hiding my skill
Moved to Camelot, where it was hidden still
Only in Tintagel could I finally be free
To make use of the magic that lived inside of me.

If that had been the only thing that I discovered there
Things would have been great, but life just isn't fair
I fell in love, sure that's grand, but, you ask, with who?
The prince of course, that royal prat, oh what was I to do?"

He had to stop because he was laughing too much.

[telemain]

When Merlin began to sing, Telemain sat back, his legs crossed like a small child, his lands clasped in his lap respectfully. He couldn't understand why Merlin had stopped, or for that matter, why he was laughing; Telemain didn't understand why it was funny or...did Merlin think his own song was bad? Did he think it was lacking in some musical technicalities? Telemain couldn't tell if he was or not, but he thought the song was just fine.

"Why're you laughing?" He asked, still not finding the humor. "I thought you were quite good. You lived in a place called Ealdor, hiding things?"

[Merlin Emrys]

Merlin just shook his head, though he couldn't help but be a little gratified that Telemain didn't find the song as silly and odd as he had. He got his laughter under control and nodded in confirmation.

"My magic, it's outlawed where I come from so I had to keep it hidden," he was glad that the other boy was asking about the magic rather than the falling-for-a-prince part. It wasn't that he was ashamed or particularly uncomfortable admitting that he was gay, he'd come to terms with it, but the reactions seemed to vary a lot given how many different worlds people had come from - although perhaps, in Telemain's world, it wasn't anything to comment upon. The thought was an oddly comforting one, that there was a place where he wouldn't have to worry about what people thought of his love, where he wouldn't have to worry about keeping their relationship a secret because... well, ok, he was still a servant, it probably wouldn't be ok, but that would be one less obstacle.