The Return of Magic   von konpaku
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                      Kapitel 2: The Once and Future Prat
                      -----------------------------------


In the Living Room


It has been a couple of weeks since Gwen had moved  into the flat, but only now
was she able to live up to the agreement  they had made on their first meeting.
Several by now half empty bowls  of chips, popcorn and sweets, as well as an
empty decanter and some  water bottles occupied the table in the living room.
Gwen laid  comfortably on the couch beside the door and took a moment to watch 
her new friends. Michael sat to her right on the other couch,  intently starring
at the screen of the television, his arms resting  on his legs and his whole
body leaning forward as if he was afraid to  miss just the shortest of moments.
Keileigh on the other hand  slouched on the arm chair across from her. As soon
as Gwen's eyes  fell on her she turned her head to return the gaze. With a grin
she  nodded in Michael's direction. She was highly amused by his  behaviour. A
smile on her lips Gwen returned her attention to the  screen. One of her
favourite scenes was about to happen.

***

“Give the boy a chance.” The black bearded  knight declared
“Go ahead, son.” Another man encouraged the  young blond boy and shoved him
towards the Sword.
With  determination he stepped towards the stone and the anvil on top of it  to
grab the golden hilt of the sword that was stuck in it. When he  touched the
metal bright line shone from above and a choir started  singing. With not much
effort the weapon was freed from its prison  and the boy stumbled a few steps
backwards, the far too large sword  in his hands, looking up at the light.
“It's a miracle ordained  by heaven.” Someone in the crowd surrounding them
whispered.
“This  boy is our king.” Another declared.
“Well, by Jove.” The  boys guardian exhaled awestruck.
“What's the lad's name?” The  knight demanded to know.
“Eh, Wart. Oh, uh, I mean Arthur.”  The other man managed to say and the
crowd started to cheer.
“Hail,  King Arthur!”
“Hail, King Arthur! Long live the king!”


***


But their chanting  was halted and the picture froze.
Keileigh and Gwen both looked at  Michael who held the remote in his hand. A
deep frown on his face  when  he put down the device.
“He's too young!” He declared  after a moment of starring at the screen.
“I know!” Gwen  exclaimed right away.
Turning his head to her, he urged her to  continue.
“I mean, that's what bothered me about it most as  well. I love the film to
bits, but I could never understand why they  had to make Arthur this young. I
know it's in some versions of the  legend too, but it just feels wrong...” She
ranted and then went  quiet, as she was a bit ashamed of her outburst.
Michael offered  her a kind smile. This notion was what made him stop the film
in the  first place. It just sounded wrong to him that Arthur was supposed to 
be a young boy whenever he read about it or now saw it. In his  opinion – and
apparently Gwen's too – he should have been a man,  maybe a bit childish, but
a man nevertheless. Though he didn't know  what made him think that way.

A noise at the door however snapped them out of their  thoughts. With yank the
entrance opened to reveal a man with shoulder  length, dark hair and stubble on
his chin. Cheekily he looked into  the room, a wide grin on his face.
“Having fun?” He asked when  he slipped into the room and sat down next to
Gwen's feet on the  couch.
“Hi, I'm Gwayne and you must be the lovely lady that is  now living in my
room.” He greeted her, giving her his most  enticing smile and holding out his
hand with the palm  upwards.
Groaning Michael and Keileigh rolled their eyes at their  friend, it was just
like him to hit on their new room mate right  away.
“Nice to meet you.” Gwen smiled and took his hand to  shake it, instead of
giving him the chance to kiss hers. 
“Yes,  I'm Gwen, the new flatmate and I'm already dating someone.” She 
added with a light laugh and took her hand away.
“What a  shame...” He concluded in mock disappointment before turning his 
attention to the television instead.
“So, what are you wa....are  you watching 'The Sword in the Stone' without
me?” He exclaimed in  outrage.
“How dare you!”
“Oh how we dared. Michael hadn't  seen it yet and Gwen was only allowed to
move in if we watched it  together.” Keileigh explained with a laugh.
“But without me  isn't together!” The other stuck to his point.
“Why is everyone so obsessed with this film?”  Michael wondered out loud.
“Are you serious, mate?” Gwayne  asked instead, astonishment clear in his
voice.
“Yeah. It's fun,  but it's just a film...” Was all Michael could say to
describe his  view on it.
“Just a...can you believe him?” His friend asked  Gwen, who was just as
dumbfounded by this.
“Sure the film has  some flaws, like the singing...” Gwayne tried and Gwen
interrupted  shyly: “I like the singing.”
“Then maybe not the singing”  He changed his argument “Anyway, you at
least have to admit that  Merlin's Magic is awesome! Even though his beard is
ridiculous.”
“And  utterly inconvenient if you ask me.” Michael added  thoughtfully.
“But I guess you're right. It's pretty cool what  he can do.” He
acknowledged and added mumbling “Still no reason  why I should like it...” 
Groaning Gwayne gave up on the  discussion. In some moments it was just useless
to make his friend  see a different angle.

“When I watch films like this I sometimes wish that  things like that would be
actually possible. But Magic just doesn't  exist in this world...” Gwen
confessed with a slight sadness in her  voice, watching her folded hands in her
lap.
“Yeah, real Magic  would be awesome. The things you could do with it...”
Gwayne  agreed.
Hearing this Michael looked over to Keileigh, who was  already grinning at him.
They had already talked about including the  other two into their secret and now
would be a perfect moment for it.  With a sigh he worked up the courage to ask:
“What if it did?”  
“Don't be silly mate. You're a physicist, you of all people  should know that
the only Magic we have are ruses and illusions.”  The older man reprimanded
him, disappointment clearly audible.
Again  Michael and Keileigh exchanged a look, both with widening grins.
“You  sure?” Michael asked, when a golden hue passed over his  irises.
Confused Gwayne followed his friends nod to see the bowls  no longer standing on
the table, but floating in mid air  instead.
“What the...?” He started and jumped up.
Gwen  gasped and held her hands in front of her mouth.
Moving his hands  above the bowls Gwayne checked for strings, but there weren't 
any.
“Is this telekinesis?” He repeated the question Keileigh  had asked when
Michael had first shown her.
“Nope. Magic.” He  simply answered and released the bowls.
With a clattering sound  they landed on the table again. Two pairs of eyes
stared at him in  awe.
“How long?” Was all Gwayne could manage to ask.
“Can  I use it or do I know about it?” Michael tried to close in on the 
question.
“Both.”
“As long as I can remember and probably  even before that I had these
abilities. I was born with it  apparently.” He told them, shrugging his
shoulders as if it was no  big deal.
“So you're not just adopted, you're a freak as well?”  Gwayne joked, sitting
down again.
“That's what it looks like.”  Michael laughed.

He had to answer a few more questions about his  knowledge, heritage and
abilities and tried to explain everything as  well as he could, but some of it
was still a mystery to himself.
When he was finished Gwen asked: “Why did you  confine in us?”
Though what she actually wondered was why he  told her, as he only knew her for
a couple of weeks.
“We're  stuck. We need help figuring out, who this Emrys person is and we 
thought it would be good to get you two on board.” Keileigh  explained instead
of Michael
“Gwayne has been a friend for years  now and not just that, he also has a vast
knowledge of history, even  though he rarely uses it.” She continued and waved
her hand towards  her sheepishly grinning friend.
“You on the other hand know a  lot about the Arthurian legends and as his
Birthday gift included the  book you saw on your first visit, we figured your
knowledge might  come in handy as well.”
“And I believe I can trust you two.”  Michael added with a smile.
Both of them returned the gesture,  simply to overwhelmed to find words. They
were granted an incredible  view into something they didn't dare believe existed
and therefore  were simply grateful to receive this honour.

A couple of days later


“Guys? You're busy?”  Gwen asked when she entered the living room.
“Nope, just wanted  to torch this book anyway.” Keileigh replied annoyed,
slamming the  large volume in front of her shut.
“It's university property,  you shouldn't even consider damaging it.”
Michael scolded her,  putting down a different one.
“It was an expression...” She  replied with a roll of her eyes and leaned
back into the arm chair,  her arms folded in front of her.
“Anyway, I'd like to introduce  you to someone.” Gwen changed the topic,
before the two of them  would start off into another argument.
When she had their full  attention she waved for someone outside the door.

A young man entered the  room, a kind smile on his face.
“Well, this is...” Gwen  started introducing him when Michael interrupted:
“Lance!”.
He  stood up in astonishment, a grin spreading.
“Michael Merlin. I  knew I'd meet you again one day.” The other replied,
stepping  forward to take the offered hand.
“You know each other?” Gwen  asked in confusion, looking from one to the
other.
“We briefly  met on a train about a month ago.” Lance explained as a matter
of  fact, releasing the other's hand.
“You're the train-dude? He's  the train-dude?” Keileigh asked in surprise
pointing at him and  looking at Michael.

Michael and Lance  described their first encounter to Gwen. She was quite amused
that  the man that had helped her friend turned out to be the man she had  been
dating for about a month now. In fact their first meeting had  also been on the
same day, just before Lance got into that train.

When Lance and Keileigh  were deep in conversation she pulled Michael aside.
“Does he  know?” Gwen whispered.
“No, I only accidentally used  the other name, like I did when we first
met.” The other cleared  up.
Gwen remembered how he had done that and how she had thought  it to be funny
that he had used the name, when they were just talking  about names from the
book.
“Do you want to tell him?” She  asked next, even though she felt like she
already knew the answer.
“I  don't know. I feel like I can trust him and the fact that we met  before
and that he's now your boyfriend, doesn't make this an easier  choice... Not
yet, I guess...” Michael explained, looking at Lance  from his position.
“We're just dating...” Gwen tried to  reason, but was met with a raised
eyebrow.
“But I know what you  mean. He is just an incredible person.” She shyly
added.

Some days later on the Campus


****


Michael and Keileigh were  on their way to their first lessons, when they saw a
group of people  towering over a rather young looking boy. He clutched the books
in  his arms tightly, while one of the guys pulled up his backpack, he  was
still wearing, high over his shoulders, only to let it drop onto  his back. The
older students certainly enjoying the teasing and  laughed at the boys
whimpers.
Without second thought Michael  stepped in to help him. He had been on the
receiving end of bullying  himself, so he wouldn't let anyone else suffer
through it.
“That's  enough my friend.” He declared, addressing the blond guy that did 
most of the teasing.
“Do I know you?” The other wondered.
“No,  I'm Michael.” He introduced himself in a dry tone, not bothering to 
offer his hand.
“So I don't know you. Yet you called me  'friend'.” The other concluded,
causing his actual friends to laugh  again.
“That was my mistake.” Michael relented in an  apologetic tone, lowering his
head slightly.
“Yes, I think so.”  The apparent leader of the group agreed.
“Yeah. I'd never have a  friend who could be such an ass.” The other added
with amusement  dripping from his voice and a challenging smile on his lips.
As  soon as he had said his words, everyone seemingly had stopped  breathing in
anticipation of what would happen now.

****

But before anyone could  say or do anything Gwayne grabbed his shoulder.
“Come on mate,  let's go, before you get yourself into trouble.” He urged is
friend  in a low tone and tried to drag him away.
“Since when are you  the voice of reason?” Michael shot at him.
“Since you start  picking a fight with the wrong people.” Gwayne explained
and shoved  him forward.

When they were out of  earshot, he let go of Michael.
“As much as I like the odds in a  good brawl, was what you just did rather
suicidal when it comes to  campus life.” He told him.
“I don't care about that, he was  being an ass! Why should I let a prat like
him just bully someone?”  Michael demanded to know.
“You can't stop an idiot from doing  something by trying to reason with
him.” Gwayne tried again,  feeling like he was just doing that.
“Besides, fights on campus  are forbidden and you'd have dragged all of us
into it.” Keileigh  stated as a matter of fact.
“All right, all right, I let it  go...” Michael resigned and added mumbling:
“For now.”

Later that day in a pub

To get their mind off of  the encounter on the campus Gwayne had urged his
friends to join him  in the pub. Michael, Gwen and Keileigh had already arrived
and sat at  one of the high tables close to the billiard table.
When their  friend finally arrived Michael greeted him with a: “There you 
are...”
After he already had a couple of drinks Gwayne was  re-telling the tale from
before for the umpteenth time and as their  friend was a brilliant story teller
the group was laughing full heartedly at the formerly serious topic.

It wasn't long until  Michael noticed someone approaching from behind his
friend. When the  person had reached the table beside them he felt the eyes that
were  still glued to his back.
He turned around to find none other than  the insolent brat from before right in
front of him.
“You  again.” He simply stated.
“I could say the same thing.”  Michael retorted, the same challenging smile
on his lips.
“If  you're so sure about yourself why not settle this with nice match of 
billiard?” The older student suggested, a sinister grin on his  face.
“Sure.” The young man accepted right away.
That poor  kid wouldn't know what he got himself into, as he would be playing 
against one of the best players on campus.
“The loser apologizes  for whatever he did wrong.” Michael added after he
rose up in front  of the other, offering his hand.
“I didn't do anything wrong.”  The prat argued.
“You bullied a guy.”
“I showed him his  place, there's a difference.” He stood firmly by his
believe of not  having done anything wrong.
“Not for him, so are we playing or  are you second guessing your
suggestion?” Michael  challenged.
“Bring it on, freshman!” The other replied  grabbing his hand tightly.

They had played for a  while and Michael had learned that the other was called
Arthur, after  Gwayne addressed him during on of his breaks. His friend had told
 him, they were in a few classes together, but it was still odd to see  him
associate with someone like that. He didn't like this prat one  bit. That's why
early on he had decided to use a bit help to  manoeuvre his balls around. Even
though he tried to make it subtle  and suspenseful, were some of his scores a
bit too miraculously.

Finally they had reached  the last ball, only the black eight lay on the table
and it was  Michael's turn to pot it. He grinned at his opponent and positioned 
himself. With a soft nudge the ball rolled into its goal.
“Yes!”  Michael exclaimed in excitement, while his friend cheered behind 
him.
“You actually won.” Arthur affirmed in surprise.
“Yeah  and you know what that means.” The other reminded him.
Looking  the victor up and down the older student simply stated: “Good 
match.” and held out his hand.
“That's not what I meant...”  Michael pointed out.
“That's all you'll get.” Arthur declared,  nodding in the direction of his
hand.
“Well, it's a start.”  The younger student sighed, grabbed the hand and
shook it.

After the match Gwayne  invited Arthur for a drink and he stayed a moment
longer. He  participated in their conversation and seemed to have more to him 
than just being a bully. Still, as soon as he had finished his drink,  he set
off, wishing everyone a good night.

“He doesn't seem that  bad...” Gwen wondered, a hue of red on her cheeks.
The two of  them had shared a conversation about one of the seminars she was 
about to take, that he had already passed.
“I still think he's a  prat.” Was all Michael said to this and took the last
swing of his  glass.
“Speaking of prats: You cheated!” Gwayne exclaimed and  pointed at his
friend accusingly.
“Shh, idiot! Do you want  everyone to know about that?!” Michael reprimanded
him instead,  looking around to see if anyone had heard the remark.
“At least  he taught him a lesson!” Keileigh laughed and the others joined 
her.

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