Summary: [AU. Sacred Stones Slash.] Basically a somewhat random story about several male on male pairings, some more random than others. Just a little something to pour my brain into while I work on other, more coherent stories. I think the main pairing here is Artur and Knoll, but I can't be too sure yet.
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Warning: In case you didn't know from the pairing in the summary, this is a male/male type thing. If you do not enjoy or are not interested in reading such things, please turn away.
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Disclaimer: I think it's well-documented that this site was put here for people who do not own the characters herein. But in case you didn't know, I'll fill you in. I own neither Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, nor the characters associated with that particular game. I would also like to add that this story is not to be mistaken as being true to the story line or the actual characters of the game. I am simply using them to entertain myself and anyone who may be interested in reading this work of fan fiction.
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a/n: Sorry. Sometimes things come to me and I just run with them. I'm not sure where this is set or anything. It's all in good fun, so I hope you enjoy.
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Sing With Me If It's Just for Today
by CorrosiveMidnight
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--Part 1: Artur and Knoll....
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Artur never would've guessed that Knoll would want to put together a male chorus, let alone recruit HIM as the pianist. But only this morning Artur received an email asking him if he'd like to play piano for the chorus. Actually, the Druid had admitted that he wanted this to be a reunion of sorts and would be inviting practically every man who had been in their troop during the Great War. Artur wasn't even sure about these guys' singing abilities, so he had no idea how successful or unsuccessful this group would be.
But regardless of his doubt, Artur arrived at the building Knoll had reserved for their group to rehearse in so that he could meet with his chorus leader. The place was basically like a small auditorium.
"Welcome, Artur," Knoll said once Artur had closed the door.
Artur listened as Knoll's voice reverberated around the room and raised his eyebrows. "Hi, Knoll. I was a little surprised to hear that you wanted to set up a chorus of all things. What made you think to do something like this?"
Knoll lead Artur up on the stage and sat him in front of the piano that was set up there. "Well, I remembered you saying that you play and I'd heard Cormag sing when he thought I wasn't listening. He has the most amazing first tenor voice and I'd love for him to be our soloist. Besides, if we all fought a war together, we'd have more than enough chemistry to sing together."
"But you've never actually heard the rest of the guys sing," Artur said. "Not everyone has that kind of talent. And not everyone can be taught to sing."
"Well, that's why I have you here, Artur. I used to watch you out on the field. You have a knack for teaching people things. You showed half the troops how to get maximum effectiveness out of a vulnerary. I've even seen you show Ewan how to properly execute anima spells, even though you don't use them yourself. And people are naturally drawn to you," Knoll added quietly.
Artur blushed a little. He had no idea that Knoll had been paying attention to the things he did on the field so much. "Oh.... Well..., anyone would've done the same."
"Artur, please. Since I lost my best friend Lyon, I lost interest in just about everything else. This is the only thing that has brought light to my life again," Knoll said.
The young Bishop saw the look in Knoll's eyes. This sad individual was asking him for help. Who was he to deny this man his dream? "Okay. If we have a big enough turnout for this chorus, then I'll gladly work with you." He gave a smile.
"Thank you, Artur. You don't know what this means to me," Knoll said. "We should find some music we'd want to work on. Of course, you'll have first pick, since you'll be playing it." Knoll pulled out a box full of music scores. "And if there are songs you already know that you'd like to work on and we don't have it, we can always find it someplace."
Artur never thought he'd see Knoll, a usually solemn Druid, so excited about something. There was even a smile on his face, something Artur had never seen. He quickly looked away from Knoll and stared at the ebony and ivory before him. "Well, I-I do have a few songs I used to practice. One is called 'Love of My Life' by Queen." He slowly placed his hands on the keys and began to play....
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--soon....
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Knoll was sitting on the piano bench beside Artur, staring at the keys silently.
Artur's hands were shaking slightly after he'd finished playing. He'd never put so much passion into something that it caused his entire body to tremble. It was an all new feeling for him. He looked over at his new partner.
"That...was beautiful. Really. You feel what you play, just as expected," Knoll said quietly, as if not to disturb the atmosphere of the song that had already ended. "I have to ask, is there a love of your life? I mean, because you played that song with so much emotion."
Artur laughed and reddened with embarrassment. "No, no, I don't have one of those. But I'm really glad that you liked the song, though it's a little empty without the lyrics."
"That song was far from empty," Knoll told him. "Not with the way you played it." He slowly reached over and placed his hand atop Artur's, startling the young Bishop. "I'm sorry. I just had to feel where all that talent was coming from," Knoll added.
Artur reddened even more as he looked at Knoll's hand on his.
"Though I think where your talent is coming is more...," Knoll began as his hand slowly moved up to Artur's chest, "...from here."
Artur quickly stood up and cleared his throat. "Um, well, thank you for the compliments, but I think that we should also let our singers decide what songs they'd like to sing."
"You're right," Knoll agreed. "In order for them to put the amount of feeling into the songs they sing, they should probably chose songs as well."
Artur, still flustered from what Knoll had done, nodded. "Yes, well, I'll be going then. We can't very well chose songs for singers who aren't here."
"Artur...," Knoll said as the Bishop was heading toward the door.
Artur turned back toward Knoll. "Yes?"
"Thank you for doing this. I'd like to assign parts for the chorus tomorrow and I'll need your help."
"Yes. I'll be here early," Artur said. He hurried out of the auditorium, wondering what would become of this chorus and mostly what would become of his closeness to its director.
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To be continued....
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a/n: Well, that got off to a slow start, but that's just to establish things. I'll write another couple of chapters before I decide whether I should 86 this story or not. Let me know what you think, even though you can't think much of it yet since nothing has really happened. Thanks anyway. Next chapter we'll take a look at a different pairing.