Chapter Six: A Unique Lesson

Saturday Evening

"Better?"

Morgana blinked open her eyes to find Merlin lying really close to her and still holding her wrist.

She nodded. "What's the time?"

"Six. Are you ready for more lessons? We've not got long to crack this – unless you plan on pulling a sicky on Monday."

She sighed. "I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Merlin really was lying very close to her and, still half asleep, Morgana moved forwards to kiss him. He responded briefly, his lips moving gently, but urgently, against hers before he again pulled away abruptly.

"No, not here."

"I thought you said it was shielded?"

"Not that strongly."

"But, I'm feeling really frustrated and all these kissing lessons you keep giving me aren't exactly helping."

"I know. I understand." He sighed. "Okay, here's the advice I mentioned before if you really need it. Water."

"Water?"

"You've seen my en-suite?"

"Yes, it's very impressive," she replied. "I wasn't expecting a modern wet room in such an old-fashioned house."

Water dampens magic, you see, and it can also be used as an object to move; something which requires a lot of power but won't do much harm. In fact, it's possible we might have to go in there for normal lessons if you were really struggling, but if you need to... ah, get rid of some tension, just go in there, turn all the water on and then aim your magic at it in the process. It'll fly all over the place - you'll get soaked – but it will mean that nothing else gets damaged."

She held up her wrist. "And this?"

"Leave it out here and I'll work on adjusting it a little more."

She nodded and walked to the door, pausing before entering. "I should leave my clothes out here then?"

"Oh, right... yes. I'd better wait next door then. Please try to stay really calm until you've got all the water running, will you?"

"Okay."

"And focus entirely on the water. Don't include me this time."

"But you'll be the other side of the shield you created, won't you?"

"Yeah," he replied, pulling a face. "Hopefully that'll be enough."

~o~0~o~

It was probably the most bizarre experiences Morgana had ever had. There was a nice long ledge in the main shower area where she could lie down to make things easier and, before she started, she ensured that every single tap was turned on just as Merlin had instructed. The water started behaving strangely within moments, refusing to fall vertically as it left the taps and shower head, whilst many of the water drops begun to hover in mid air or float around the room.

And she couldn't stop herself thinking about Merlin, despite what he'd said. She did try to focus on the water or imagine other men she fancied but, for some reason, all she could think about was the annoying young man who had decided he was going to teach her magic and assumed the whole weekend was his to do with as he wished.

And right now Morgana was beginning to wish Merlin was here with her for this particular lesson so they could perhaps help each other out.

Around her the water started to swirl furiously, little droplets dancing, whilst miniature waterspouts appeared and disappeared as she imagined what it would be like to make love to him in here: How much more furiously the water would swirl, how much better it would feel.

She aimed some of her magic at herself too, desperate to speed things up as much as possible.

"Merlin!"

With an almighty roar, all the water was hurled itself violently against the walls before dramatically splashing down to the floor. Morgana could only imagine what damage she would have done if she hadn't been in a bathroom full of water.

~o~0~o~

"I thought I told you not to think about me."

She came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a couple of towels, to find Merlin sitting on the bed and scowling at her.

"Why?" she asked, looking around. "I didn't cause any damage, did I?"

"No, you contained it."

"So? You just said I shouldn't push the magic towards you."

"But you were thinking about me and... imagining us... together and..." His cheeks were looking very pink, she noticed.

She glared at him. "How do you know what I was thinking?"

"Because sorcerers can communicate telepathically and you linked with me that way... a bit."

"I didn't do it deliberately."

"Yeah, well, let's just say that now I really need to take a turn."

"Oh." She smirked. "I'll go and turn the taps back on then, shall I?"

"Yes."

"And you'd better undress before you go back in there," she continued, still smiling. "It's already very wet."

"Well... go next door then," he continued nervously.

"Spoilsport."

She turned back just before she reached the door to the hall and was rewarded by a view of him already topless. "Morgana!"

"Sorry."

Still on a high and enjoying his discomfort far too much, she decided to tease him just a little bit more. As her towel was starting to slip, she readjusted it whilst facing him, giving him a brief view of her naked body. "Perhaps that'll help speed things up for you."

Merlin was still gaping at her even after she'd wrapped herself back up and walked briefly outside. She then waited a minute to give him time to get into the bathroom before returning to the bedroom to dry and dress.

She was in the middle of brushing her hair when he came back out with just a towel wrapped around his waist. Now it was her turn to gape.

"Ah, I should go," she said. "Or I'll be needing to go back in there."

He smiled. "Yes, you better had. Even though that was a good lesson for you in some ways, I do have far more important stuff I should be teaching you this evening."

They ate supper mostly in silence, with Merlin constantly distracted by her Gauntlet which he continued to adjust both mechanically and magically as it lay next to his plate.

"What is it you're doing to it?" Morgana asked.

"Increasing its absorbent qualities," he replied. "All Gauntlets do that, of course, soak up its wearer's magic in order to stop them using it. The problem with that though is that the usual setting prevents us from accessing that magic and it's essentially lost to us and wasted."

"It is of some use though," Morgana disagreed. "It helps to keep it powered and maintain its magical elements."

Merlin scoffed. "That's a myth. How would the Red Gauntlets work if that were true?"

"Natural electricity as you said before. Everyone has that."

"Yes, but that's the point, don't you see? Someone with no magic can keep their Gauntlet running with only a little of their own personal energy. A Yellow Gauntlet needs a little more power to keep the magic subdued so it takes a little more but, even then, there's a discrepancy. Most Gauntlets are storing stolen energy from us which naturally disperses and never gets used."

"So..?"

"So now, with this new adjustment, your surplus magic can be used."

"Really?"

He nodded. "And that's this evening's lesson. I want you to put this new, modified one back on and then learn how to use it to your advantage."

"It's now working like yours?"

"Similar, although you haven't gained full control yet."

"And on Monday?"

"Yes, that's why this is so important. I need to make sure you can go about your normal day, even get a bit stressed or emotional, and yet still not have your Gauntlet react." He stood up beckoned with one hand. "Let's go back into the teaching room."

She sighed. "All right."

Once inside, Merlin closed the door and held out her Gauntlet which she again eyed warily.

"Trust me, Morgana. Look, I'm wearing mine now too."

"Showing Red," she grumbled.

"Obviously I have to display the colour I'm registered under, just as you do, but that is just for show. Otherwise our Gauntlets are very similar; set to absorb large amounts of magical power for our own use later on."

"Fine," she snapped. "What's the next lesson?"

He grinned. "You're getting annoyed."

"So?"

"What emotions have triggered your magic before?"

"Well, annoyance isn't usually one of them. I feel that most of the time with all the idiots I work with at that place."

Merlin laughed. "Nightmares you said though so... fear?"

She shrugged. "Yeah."

"And passion, obviously."

"I think it's mostly those two," she replied reluctantly. Merlin grinned broadly. "You're just loving this, aren't you?"

"Not unpleasant, I admit." He moved closer and Morgana inwardly groaned as she felt her heart rate begin to increase. "It'll certainly be easier to work with passion than fear right now, don't you think?"

"I can't imagine how you could possibly scare me, no."

He held her hand and moved closer, gently stroking her hands. "But this?"

A delightful shudder coursed through her body and she took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Right, so far you've focused your magic on me, or on the water. Now I want you to actually focus on your Gauntlet but, be gentle."

"Gentle?"

He continued to stroke her hand, moving even closer. "I'm going to do as little as possible because, what we really want is for you to be able to find your magic without having to get fired up. The ultimate goal is for you to access it, use it or disperse it no matter what the situation or how you are feeling. Remember how it felt before and try to get there without me. If necessary I'll push this a little further." He again moved very close to her. So, close that she could feel his breath on her face.

"I think... I think I can sense it now... a little."

"Good. I want you to take hold of your magic and, as gently as possible, move it into your Gauntlet. In fact, the lights are moving a lot faster already so it looks like your body is starting to release magical energy, even if it's not that strong."

Morgana looked down to see the lights flashing in a way she hadn't seen before. "This is a warning sign for me then?" she asked. "If it starts flashing like this it means my magic is waking up?"

"Yes. It's not ideal to have it visible - I have mine set up so it doesn't show, for obvious reasons – but, for now, we both need to see what your magic is doing."

"And now it's calming down," she observed.

"That's because you're thinking too hard about mundane stuff. Think about your magic again and try to deliberately aim it at your wrist."

"What if I overdo it?"

"At first the lights will flash really fast and that'll be your warning to pull back and relax. Otherwise it will short-circuit just like before."

He stroked her face with one hand and lazily brushed his lips against hers and, right on cue, the lights started to speed up.

"Good, no more than that," Merlin declared. "I think that's you, Morgana. I think you're actually moving your magic into the Gauntlet consciously."

"I-I think so, yes."

"Good, let's see how much it'll take." And he kissed her again.

Morgana didn't need to see what the lights were doing, she could feel it. That buzz that had so confused her the other night was back but was now subtly different. After a few more seconds she pulled away, somehow realising that it was getting towards the danger point.

Merlin was frowning. "Hmm, really doesn't take much at all, does it? Right, it's time for you to use that magic."

"What? This magic?" she held up her wrist.

"Yes." He pointed to the marble on the table and she eyed it nervously.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Look, this Gauntlet will help you in so many ways. It's not just a way of absorbing your excess magic, it's also a tool to help you control it. If you focus on it and push at the marble through it, you should be capable of much more controlled feats."

"Really?"

"Try."

Morgana focused first on her Gauntlet, trying to repeat the sensation she'd experienced before, but this time creating a path between her internal magic, through the bracelet and then from there towards the marble. She pushed very gently...

…and the marble rolled off the table. Fairly quickly, but nowhere near the speed of yesterday.

"Yes! You did it!" Merlin crowed. "I really think this is going to work."

"That was..." Morgana stared at the ball, now rolling around on the floor. "I was hardly aware of using it."

"And yet you did. We still need to control that power – teach you to dial it down a bit - but, all the same, that certainly works very much better when you channel it through a modified Gauntlet."

"And next?"

"We do it again, of course."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "Of course."

The marble task was repeated several times, with Morgana attempting to access her magic with less help or stimulation from Merlin and using less and less force whilst pushing at the marble.

By the end of the session, it was rolling very gently across the table and she even managed to make it stop on the edge one time too, much to Merlin's delight. Even though he wasn't physically touching her, she reluctantly admitted to him that she was still relying on sexual thoughts to access her magic.

"Well, I suppose... if it works..." he replied, sceptically.

"That didn't happen to you?"

"I was consciously using magic at the age of two."

She gaped. "Two?"

"Yeah so... that's not exactly something I can relate to."

"I should hope not."

He laughed. "Anyway, as long as you are controlling it and are keeping control of your emotions, I suppose it doesn't matter what method you use. And you have a well-contained shower at your flat, I noticed, so it should be easy enough for you to released all of your sexual tension in a safe environment at home too."

"Yeah."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Exhausted."

"Hmm, something else I have no memory of. Magic was always such a natural thing for me. Well, let's start getting ready for bed, but I'll need to stay up for a little longer and adjust this Gauntlet further."

"Why? What are you going to do to it?"

"Just see if I can increase the absorbency a little more."

"You're still going to stay close to me though?"

"Yeah, I'll work on this at the desk in my bedroom and join you later." He sighed. "We've only one more day to get this sorted so I hope we both sleep well tonight."

~o~0~o~