ipsa scientia potestas est [ETERNALLY OPEN]

[knittingbackwards]

Who| Merlyn and anyone who arranged classes with him, or wants them
What| Merlyn goes back to his first love: teaching
Where| Around the Center and the Capitol
When| Any time after this network post
Warnings/Notes| Probably none

Merlyn is more than willing to make good on his offer of lessons. Those who arranged for him to come and find him will have him show up promptly in the appointed place, a brightly-crocheted bag of books over his shoulder and a cup of tea in his hand. He greets them with a little raise of his tea mug, beckoning them over to sit with him.

Those who didn't make solid arrangements should have little difficulty finding him. He's spending his time largely in the common area or the District 2 suite, alternately reading and scribbling down lesson plans he only intends to keep very roughly to, or knitting ferociously in a corner.

Comments

[knittingbackwards]

"I would imagine," Merlyn says with the other eyebrow rising to meet the first, "we would get mayonnaise at the time, if we wanted it so very desperately. Ah, well. To each his own, I suppose."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Yeah, but I eat a lot of it! Gotta make sure I'm prepared!" Come on, there's nothing wrong with preparedness! And now he's taking a seat, which is more or less carelessly sprawling all over one of the seats nearby. "So where do we start with the lesson stuff?"

[knittingbackwards]

"Hmph." Merlyn sighs, putting down his knitting and picking up a book from the stack next to him. "Well, where would you like to start?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Well, my kind of wizard stuff is all focused on hitting things really hard..." Nitou thinks for a moment. "So stuff to cover what I don't know?"

[knittingbackwards]

"Oh, dear." This is going to be a long, long day. Merlyn can just feel it. "What a terrible starting point. Hitting things? Really?" Then, with a heavy sigh, "Ah, well. I suppose it can't be helped. Then I suppose you are unfamiliar with the standard forms of meditative attention-focusing?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou just stares at Merlyn for a bit. "...you sound like my grandma asking me if I even know how to pay attention," he complains. "I can pay attention, I swear!" He frowns. "Even if I don't really know how to do meditation stuff."

[knittingbackwards]

"I'm glad to hear it," Merlyn says dryly. "Some attention will be required here, after all. Now, this part I can easily teach, if not the magic that goes with it. We settle ourselves, so, and fold our hands in our laps, and then we centre ourselves, you see?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou mimics that position easily enough. "Right, right, I got it. Like this?" Even though he's mimicking the position and seems to have a basic grasp of things, it's in his nature to want to fidget. He's reining himself in as best he can.

[knittingbackwards]

"Like that," Merlyn agrees, with a little nod. "Now, close your eyes. Yes, that's right, just close them and try to relax." He closes his own eyes for a moment, then pops one open to check on Nitou. "Try to listen for a little while. To your breathing and to the sounds of the people around you and to how the air moves, down to the quiet buzzing of the electrical wires and the pitter-patter of insects' feet. See how much you can hear."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Woah, wait, you can hear bugs stomping around? Really?" The idea immediately distracts Nitou from what he is actually supposed to be doing. "So, what, you've got magical super hearing or something?"

[knittingbackwards]

Merlyn sighs, loudly, and opens both eyes. "Maybe," he says sardonically, "if you made a nominal attempt to listen for them instead of squealing in wonder, you might be able to hear them too. Good Lord."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Hey," Nitou protests, "I'm not squealing!" There's a huff as he tries to settle down. "I'm just...thinking loudly on stuff!"

[knittingbackwards]

Merlyn raises one eyebrow, then the other, then both eyes to glare at Nitou over his spectacles. "Try thinking quietly," he suggests acidly. "Peace and quiet is the key to real magic."

[infinitemayonnaise]

Nitou just stares at him. "Dude, have you ever seen me or Haruto use magic? Quiet's like...the exact opposite of what we do."

[knittingbackwards]

"Which is precisely why your magic is not real magic." Never one to dice words, Merlyn folds his arms. "Do you even understand what it is you are doing when you do magic?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Just because it's different doesn't make it any less real," Nitou protests. "All the Phantoms I ate would tell you it's real enough, and we still transformed and stuff. It did things!" So there. "And sure, when I'm doing magic, I'm using Chimera's power to do things."

[knittingbackwards]

Merlyn waves a hand impatiently. "That only displaces the problem. Where does Chimera get his magic? What are its limits, what are its costs? Do you really understand, in the slightest, what it is you are doing?"

[infinitemayonnaise]

"I dunno, he's kind of just there." Nitou shrugs. "I'd ask him, but he's sleeping again.

"And I do too know what I'm doing--it's...it's adventuring, that's what it is!"

[knittingbackwards]

"Oh, dear." Merlyn massages his temples, screwing up his face. "You are doing a profoundly good job of making me feel older than I am, my boy, and believe me when I say that is a difficult thing to feel. Try to think, for goodness' sake, before you speak."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Thinking as I'm speaking isn't good enough? I mean, I think pretty fast, that usually gives me enough time to work with everything..." And Nitou wonders why his grandma was so often at a loss for what to do with him.

[knittingbackwards]

Merlyn tsks under his breath, shaking his head. "If you have enough time to work through it while you're speaking," he says acerbically, "then you aren't thinking enough. Besides, that's a sure-fire way to run headlong down a blind passageway, linguistically speaking. Know what you mean to say, and say it, or stay quiet and listen once in a while."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"Running headlong down blind passageways is a thing I do in real life all the time," Nitou points out. "It's where all the adventure is!"

It is so hard to adventure while you're listening. So hard.

[knittingbackwards]

Merlyn looks pained. "My goodness," he says quietly, and shakes his head, pursing his lips. "How do you live that way? I've known gadflies with more self-consciousness."

[infinitemayonnaise]

"I dunno, it's easy!" Nitou grins. "It's just how I've always done stuff, you know? In danger, there's opportunity!"

[knittingbackwards]

"And in wine, truth," Merlyn comments to himself, rather superciliously, and rolls his eyes. Then, aloud, "And has it never occurred to you, my boy, to seek opportunity in other places? For instance, in the whisper of pages in a library, or the liquid song of the blackbird, or the dancing light of the sun through water? Opportunity is in danger, yes, quite, but it lies everywhere else, too!"