A Magician's Hand

[EquinoxSol]

Thierry Asheford stepped into his Conjuration class that morning, bleary-eyed and slouching. He definitely was not a morning person. He set his satchel on his desk and sat down, holding his head in his hands. As the professor stepped inside the classroom, Thierry slowly lifted his head, yawning. "Good morning, Professor," he recited along with the rest of class. He glanced over at Samuel, a newer student that he shared a desk with, squinting a bit as the class began.

"Did you do the homework?" he asked. "I kinda forgot." He smiled, embarrassed. He tried to pretend like he was searching his bag for his homework, but then the professor walked by.

"Forgot to do your homework again, Mr. Asheford?" Professor Ling asked with a tone that suggested she already knew the answer.

"U-uh...yes, Professor," Thierry said, ducking his head. "Sorry."

"I am very disappointed in you, Mr. Asheford. That's the fourth time this week. Detention, after school. And you will not disappoint me again."

Thierry nodded, then pulled out his notebook and pen. As the professor continued to check the other students' homework, Thierry ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't like being called out in front of the rest of the class.

Once the professor finished checking the homework, she finally started to teach, telling everyone that they were going to be conjuring familiars that day. Thierry took out his textbook and turned to the page that the professor directed, which had instructions on how to conjure a familiar.

"Seems simple enough, huh?" he asked Samuel, smiling a bit.

 

[TragicTrees]

Samuel

To say that Samuel was completely and utterly fucked was not an overstatement. In fact, if anything, it was a complete understatement, because it was probably the previous statement doubled. He was so fucked that it was hard to believe it, really, and he wished he had just never come to this school in the first place.

Well. It was sort of too late now. He had thought it was a prank, originally, and decided just to accept the damn thing. Of course, it turned out not to be a prank, and here he was, sitting in a desk, with a guy next to him saying the words 'Homework' and 'Simple' in relation to a class that had them summoning a familiar, whatever the hell that was, and smiling all the while, like this wasn't odd at all for him. A completely normal day in the land of This Fucking Guy(as he had deemed to call his classmate, who he didn't really know the name of at this moment in time).

He couldn't do legitimate magic. No, he tricked people. That's literally all he did. Slight of hand! He was sure he had pick-pocketed people at one point. But magic? No, no way, he was as normal as people came. Possibly the most normal person, ever. If there was a competition for being normal, he'd probably get gold, while everyone in this school didn't even place. He'd move on to the normal championships.

Sam flashed a smile at 'This Fucking Guy', hoping it would cover up how nervous he was, "Yea. Sure. Pretty dang simple, wow. Haha, yea! Anyone could do this. Easy A." He rambled.

So, that didn't exactly work out the way he planned. Hopefully the other student wouldn't notice. Wizards seemed to be pretty oblivious anyway, right? He'd been here a few months, and no body had noticed yet. He just had to keep his head on straight, and he'd do fine.

 

[EquinoxSol]

Thierry did pick up on how awkward Samuel seemed as he answered him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. He couldn't get caught messing around by Professor Ling or else she'd give him more detention. So, he took down the notes that the professor said, soon filling a page. By the time they were ready to actually use their magic, Thierry was bored out of his skull. He never was one for book work. Finally, they were allowed out of their desks to begin practicing the spell.

He stood and walked towards the back of the classroom, where the practice area was. He flashed Samuel a quick grin, his eyes sparkling just like they always did whenever he got excited about something. He rolled up his sleeves, then gestured towards Samuel. "You wanna go first?" he asked.

All around them, other pairs of students were using gestures and mumbled words to conjure familiars, which were mental projections that turned corporeal. Thierry already had an idea of what he wanted to create: a giant bear twice his size that would run through the classroom and tear everything up. Ambitious? Yes. Disruptive? Of course. And Thierry was going to love it.

"Show me what you can do," he said with a playful wink.

 

[TragicTrees]

Samuel was going to hate this so much. He stood there stiffly, choosing to stare at a particular floor panel. Maybe he could memorize it. Not that it would help, it would only get his mind off of the situation at hand. But it wasn't like he could just ignore the question. Or statement. That Fucking Guy would be the death of him, he was sure of it. Now, if he had a top hat and a bunny, he could totally pull this off. Unfortunately, no top hat, and he was fresh out of rabbits.

So, this posed a pretty big problem. He had literally no way to make this seem legit. He'd have to wing it. Taking a deep breath, he quickly repeated the words in the book, and after a moments pause, said "Well! Dang, looks like I can't do it. Go ahead! Have fun, I'll just wallow in my failure misery over here and all that."

He really doubted this guy would buy this, but it was worth a shot, right? Right.

 

[EquinoxSol]

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" Thierry asked, tilting his head a bit as the students around them tried it with various degrees of success. "I think in the book it said to use more motion? Like this?" Thierry demonstrated by repeating the spell and moving his body in a fluid, almost dance-like motion. A second later, a small ghostly T-rex appeared at his feet. "Lookit that!" he said, grinning. "See? I told you."

He walked towards Samuel and grabbed his wrists. "It's like...it's like dancing, I guess. You gotta let the magic flow through your body.' He smiled pleasantly, hoping that he was helping.

"Does that make sense?" he asked, taking his hands away.

 

[TragicTrees]

Samuel was sure he was, by now, really obviously not a magician. Like, REALLY obviously. Because he was standing there like a fool, staring at the other with a confused expression. He quickly corrected such, though, trying to regain a neutral look as he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yea. Sure." he said, before a slight pause. Then, "I don't usually dance. At all. Don't think I can do this. Please, continue."

He flashed another grin, hoping the guy would just move on. That would make life really so much easier for both of them.

 

[EquinoxSol]

"Alright..." Thierry said, not really believing him. Maybe Samuel was self-conscious or something. He shook his head and continued to practice, switching up what he conjured with every reiteration. Eventually, the professor approached them, to give them any help. Thierry obediently conjured a monkey familiar, grinning as it climbed up his leg and abdomen and went onto his shoulder.

"Good job, Mr Asheford," Professor Ling said, writing down on her clipboard something. "Now you, young man," she said to Samuel.

Thierry grinned over at Samuel, knowing that now, he'd have to do it. "Yeah, Sam," he said. "You're turn."

 

[TragicTrees]

Shit, now he would actually need to do something. Maybe he could try to get help. He chewed at his cheek, before smiling widely at them both. Thinking of a way out of this was a bit too much, that was for sure. How was he going to pull this off? There was literally no way. Unless....

Sam took a deep breath, before saying "Do you mind if I talk to my partner first? He was helping me out. I'd like a few pointers and all, you know!"

He hoped it was convincing enough. It'd have to be, for this to end well. And if he did pull it off, and if That Fucking Guy did agree....well, he'd have a better chance to stay here longer, in the end. Having a friend with magic that knows that he can't do magic? That would be perfect, really.

 

[EquinoxSol]

"Alright," Professor Ling said, gesturing for Thierry to go with Samuel. The young mage walked towards him, smiling a bit. "What's up?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair.

((sorry it's so short, writer's block is killing me))

 

[TragicTrees]

((It's fine! I don't really care about length.))

Sam sighed "Well! Okay." He began "Here's the thing. I don't do magic. Like, legit don't do any magic. At all. I am magic-less."

He spread out his arms in a ta-da sort of gesture, but was frowning the whole while. After all, he wasn't sure how the other would react to the information. He himself wouldn't be happy in That Fucking Guy's situation.