Magical Hogwarts

Kanat was surprisingly nervous, despite everything, to be sharing this part of himself with Mihkkal. Despite them being about as close to best friends as it was possible for Kanat to be with someone, there were still things they didn’t share. For Mihkkal, Kanat supposed that it included the activities he had engaged in with Dzmitry Zelenko over the Survival camping trip, which he did not mind not being involved in. For Kanat, his exercise, his showers, and his meditation were his private times, though, and he didn’t really share that with others. Sure, he did quidditch practice, which was exercise technically, but they weren’t his full routine—his lifting, his runs, his mat exercises.

Showering was fairly personal for everyone, Kanat assumed, but meditation was something people often did together in groups. Kanat was an introvert, though, and a bit self-isolated, so he never wanted anyone else around him when he was in such a vulnerable state. However, Mihkkal and he shared a lot of things, including elemental magic and their element of water, and so there was not really a reason for Kanat to deny Mihkkal’s request to join him.

He had also crafted a rune for Mihkkal as a gift. It was one that Kanat had used many times before for meditation and magic, but he had made Mihkkal one of his own, having promised to do just that. He had it in the pocket of his pants and the weight was reassuring. He was wearing swimwear underneath his trousers, just in case they chose to do their meditation in the water itself, because he was not taking off his clothes out in public and sitting in the water in his underwear under any circumstances. The air was warmer than usual, closer to summer now that they were at the start of term, but the water was likely still icy. He might warm it magically (if he was able to perform the simple charm), but otherwise they would get used to the chill. They were water, after all. Their entire selves were water.

He had come from the dormitory but thought Mihkkal was coming from elsewhere so he had not waited for him in their room. Instead, he grinned as he saw his friend near the water. He waited to speak until he was close enough to be heard without raising his voice. “Hey.” He greeted. Why was he nervous, again?

“I made you that rune I promised to make.” He said, lifting it from his pocket and offering it to Mihkkal with an open palm. “I’m… strangely nervous about this.” He confessed. “I’m used to doing this whole thing alone, so I’m not sure what to do with you here. We might just sit awkwardly in silence. I might hate the sound of your breathing.” He teased. “How are you feeling?”

@Mihkkal Huuskonen

Mihkkal had holed himself up in the library this first afternoon after the beginning of term feast. He had been doing a little runic review in the rather dark interior space. While there was little to no water this deep into the interior of the institute’s grounds, Mihkkal still felt comfortable in this solitary space. Carefully putting the final touches on the runes that he had been attempting to replicate, Mihkkal regarded his handywork before sliding them off the table and into a protective pouch that he wore slung across his chest under his robes. The pouch held several runes for amplifying his own magics, somewhat less necessary since his initialization, as well as his own rune of nondetection when he wasn’t wearing it. Anytime that he was with Kanat, he chose not to wear it, as he felt that his boyfriend had been cut off from his element enough, there was no reason to artificially increase that separation.

Once he finished packing up his things, Mihkkal returned the book to the cart at the end of the aisle and made his way up to the dorm to grab one last thing. It was about 15 minutes before he was set to meet up with Kanat for their joint meditation session and this would put him slightly behind schedule, but it was an important detour. Making his way down the familiar corridors to the boy’s shared dormitory he found it empty—a pleasant surprise. He didn’t want to have to explain anything before they made it out to the lake. Grabbing a vial from his trunk, Mihkkal threw it into his satchel. He was ready now. He’d be taking his robes off to meditate in the water, and he was happy to leave his satchel in the pile with his robes and shoes. There was no need to put layers between the water and himself, they were two in the same anyhow…

As he made his way out to the lake, Mihkkal saw the Kanat’s shape already at the lake. “Prompt as always” the young man though to himself. And Kanat was that. For all Mihkkal knew, he might already be into his meditation by the time the other elemental joined him. Quickening his pace ever so slightly, Mihkkal made his way to the water and smiled as his boyfriend’s voice called out to him. He returned the greeting somewhat more formally, “fàilte air mo charaid agus mo bhràthair uisge.” It was absolutely way too formal and his accent was terrible, but both boys were in the process of learning the council’s language. Why, Mihkkal wasn’t sure, his own village had always just used their own dialects to discuss elemental matters, but for some reason the council wanted things done this way…

Greetings exchanged, Mihkkal gave his boyfriend a brief hug before letting him present the rune he had carved. Mihkkal looked down at it with a smile. Kanat had made great progress in his runic carving. Mihkkal could see that the moment he looked down at the stone in the other boy’s hand. His own journey in carving runes was long and protracted. He had begun at a very young age and had been practicing since. Over 10 years of practice, he had become quite good, but so too had Kanat and in far less time. While he could still see the roughness of some of the cuts, Mihkkal knew the significance of this gesture and humbly accepted the rune from his boyfriend.

“Thank you Kanat, I will treasure this. And speaking of gifts, I have something for you as well.” Mihkkal sat down as close to Kanat as he could without sitting on him and reached into the satchel, producing a small crystal vial. Holding it out to Kanat he said, “this is water from the central spring in my village. It was used in my village’s initialization ceremony and is very special to me. I have worn a vial of water from this spring since I came to this school. Now, I want you to have one as well.” Passing the vial—crystal with silver inlay—to his best friend, Mihkkal lowered the collar of his robes to reveal the matching one he wore.  Still face to face, Mihkkal smiled as Kanat focused on those things that could go wrong. As the other gave a litany of possible problems, Mihkkal put up a hand and said, “here, put your hand on mine. I’ll show you something we do in my village to prepare to meditate and maybe this will help keep you from hating the sound of my breathing…” his smile was reassuring as he waited for Kanat to reach out and put the palm of his hand against his own.

Kanat was surprised to hear that Mihkkal had gotten him something, because that had not been discussed. However, upon hearing the sentiment behind the other’s gesture, he smiled widely. The idea of wearing a spring from the other’s home seemed to be an intimate gesture, but Kanat was willing to take it. He smiled, feeling the crystal and silver vial in his hand. “This is very sweet, Mika. A little much though, isn’t it?” He asked carefully. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful, more that he thought the vial was almost too personal for their best-friend status, even. It seemed like something he’d give a lover.

However, Kanat was not opposed to being that, either. Perhaps not yet in the physical sense, but romantically? Maybe? He was not sure. Mihkkal liked men, which Kanat was aware of even if Mihkkal had not come out and told him yet–he didn’t care one way or the other–but Mihkkal was a sweet guy, someone who deserved to be treated well and gently. Kanat could and would treat him properly, but he was still unsure if his thoughts were more about wanting to protect his friend than really wanting to be the person he was with. Kanat was a bit ambivalent about it, which was likely not the ideal. He would have dated him, but nothing really would change about their relationship, save that they would also not pursue relationships with others. Knowing about himself that he would need some time to develop a sexual attraction, he worried Mihkkal would be unfulfilled by him.

“If you’re sure I’m the one you want to give this to, then I’ll happily take it.” He assured. “I worry about you, you know.” He said, after a moment. “Worry that you… might be hurt or rushing into something.” he explained, poorly.

“Do we need to talk before we start?” He asked, more for Mihkkal. “If you have something on your mind, now’s the time to air it before you have to sit with it for an hour.”

The raw skin on Mihkkal’s shoulder rubbed not quite uncomfortably, but certainly reminding him of its presence, against the inside of his robes. It had been a couple of weeks since his father had placed the second runic marking on his shoulder, but he had been keeping it covered until today, his first time meditating with Kanat. He wanted him to be one of the first to see it outside of his family, proud that he had undergone this transition to becoming a full elemental in his father’s eyes. While the village still didn’t know his secret, the fact that his father now saw him as a mature elemental meant a great deal to Mihkkal, and he wanted to share that with his friend.

Kanat’s reaction to Mihkkal’s gift was a little unexpected. Sure, he hadn’t told him he would be giving him the vial, but Mihkkal didn’t expect hesitation or reticence. ‘A little much?’ Really? First off, the two boys had known each other for going on five years, and on top of that, Kanat was the only other elemental his age he was allowed to have any contact with in this way. The other elementals in his village couldn’t know he had this magic or the years of his parents’ protection would have been undone. Of course it wasn’t a little much, but Mihkkal took a breath, smiled and shook his head, “no Kanat, it isn't too much. You and I have become close over the last four years. Where two streams meet, they do not ask one another which part of me is me and which part is you…rather they join as one and become stronger. This is us, the last three years of working together on our magic, on keeping one another’s secret, we have become as two rivers joined. So what is mine,” he pulled out his vial from beneath his robes, “is yours,” and offered him the complementary vial.

As Kanat expressed his worry, Mihkkal knew they still needed a moment. Still facing Kanat, Mihkkal put his hand on the back of his neck and pulled their foreheads together. As he did, he waited in a few moments of silence before saying, “your worry is appreciated, but unnecessary. I am not rushing into anything, I assure you. I have had feelings for you for some time, but they are not the driving force for this. I do want to act on my feelings, to ask you to be more than just a roommate and friend, but this gift has nothing to do with that. I am well, I assure you.”

Mihkkal hoped that telling Kanat how he felt wasn’t going to mess up what they were about to do. Meditation was a bit of a chore at times, and any kind of strong emotion could cause distraction and defeat the whole purpose of the activity. In an effort to bring their collective attention back to the matter at hand, Mihkkal stood and took a step back before pulling off his robes. “There is one more thing before we get started, I wanted you to see something.”

Putting his robes off to the side, Mihkkal turned and sat back down so his back was to Kanat, so he could see the still tender skin on the right side of his upper back. “My father completed my initiation as a full elemental in the tradition of our village a few weeks ago. Since no one outside of my family in the village knows, few have seen the mark. I wanted to share it with you too though. I wanted you to see it in this context rather than just one day before showers. It was an important moment in my life and I only wish that I had been able to share it with more than just my father and mother.” Mihkkal’s one regret was that he had to keep his elementalism secret not only at school, but also in his village. A few people, collectively, between both school and home knew, but the number was small. Sharing this mark intentionally felt—at least a little bit—like Kanat could be a part of it.

Kanat took the vial with thanks. He felt a little queasy in a strange way when Mihkkal put their foreheads together, but he was pretty sure he liked it, oddly. He listened to the other’s words. Kanat supposed there was not really anymore guessing as to how Mihkkal felt about things. He liked Kanat, more than friendly. Kanat didn’t know how to take this information, so he just stored it for later examination. In fact, the meditation might end up being his processing time for that.

When Mihkkal began showing his mark, though, Kanat was distracted. He felt better to think of elemental things than personal things. He was fascinated by the mark, the rune, and how far Mihkkal had gotten. “Do you think… over the summer maybe, your family might do this to me, too?” He wondered, careful, but hopeful. “It’s a big deal for them, so I understand if not… but you’re really the only thing I know about others like us.” A beat. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know your parents.” A slight blush crossed his cheeks.

He began to disrobe too, leaving on just a thin t-shirt and boxer briefs. It was lucky it was still warm enough to allow it. Mihkkal could take much colder water than Kanat, though.

“You ready to go in, or do you have more fun things to show and tell?”

It felt like an eternity that he sat with his back to Kanat. He wondered if it was too much to have shown him, if he should have explained more, if undressing in public like this would make him uncomfortable. His head was a storm of uncertainty until he heard Kanat speak, cutting through the noise in his head and calming him down almost instantly. The other’s voice was strong, not in an uncomfortable or harsh way, but it had a command to it. Even in his uncertainty at the request, Mihkkal felt protected and cared for.

Thinking over the request for a moment as he turned himself back around to face Kanat, Mihkkal tried to smile so he could hide some of the uncertainty he was sure was plastered across his face. “I’m not sure Kanat, I don’t know that we have ever been asked to do something like that. People like us don’t often join the village, normally it is just normal members of the village who go off to school and return married to another normal witch or wizard. My dad’s role in the village might make it so they would consider it, but I couldn’t put myself in their place to know what they would say. Sorry I don’t know anything more about that…” He was being as true as he could. Mihkkal didn’t think that they would look very kindly on passing their elemental lore, history, and practices outside of the community. But maybe if Kanat visited, learned a little bit, and they saw him as a part of the community…perhaps?

At the mention of meeting Mihkkal’s parents, he had to smile a little bit. Hardly anyone from the outside visited the village. It just wasn’t common. On top of being a difficult trip, it was also a world apart from anything anyone had ever experienced. He would put a pin in that and circle back later. If Kanat really wanted to by the end of term, Mihkkal would absolutely ask his parents. It would, however, likely mean that Kanat would have to stay the whole summer. The only real way to travel was via apparation or by the magical means Durmstrang used to send him home each year. If he came, especially since he wouldn’t be able to apparate himself home, he would be waiting until the next school year.

Mihkkal would revisit that with Kanat later, but for now, they needed to meditate. The two both had plenty to think on, and that was on top of meditating and becoming more closely aligned with their element and with one another. As Kanat undressed, Mihkkal subconsciously hoped he would be going all the way down to just his boxers, but he kept a shirt on too. It was probably best, too much more skin would have been an additional distraction today. The storm in his mind had been put on pause by Kanat’s voice, but it would kick up again at some point if too many more distractions showed up. Smiling at Kanat, Mihkkal answered, “Yea, I think we are ready to go in. I don’t have anymore showing to do, so unless you’ve got something, we might as well get started.”

Kanat nodded a little at Mihkkal’s words about the village and its privacy. He was not put off by this information. He knew it was a long shot for Mihkkal’s village to accept him, an outsider, as one of them… but he had a little hope that it might work anyway. He and Mihkkal were best friends. They might have been from different environments (a slight understatement), but they had the same magic within them. There was a special bond between them, but he knew that it was not necessarily up to Mihkkal. If it was, Kanat had no doubt that his friend would extend him the courtesy.

Kanat stripped down to just his undergarments, taking even his shirt off—not really noticing that Mihkkal had kept his shirt on until he turned around. He flushed a little, being less dressed than the other, but then he smiled. “I’m ready.” He assured. He attempted to cast a warming charm on a small portion of the water, but was unsure how successful his wand magic would be. He settled into the water, wading in for a bit until it reached his knees before sitting down. It covered him up to his neck. He thought it was a bit warmer than usual, though, so he considered that a win.

He reached out his hand for Mihkkal. “Touch hands with me.”

Thankfully, Kanat didn’t have anything else that he wanted to discuss before the two of them got into the water. It wasn’t that Mihkkal would have minded a little more conversation, but he was longing to get into the water, to be in his element both figuratively an literally. He could sense the water’s beckoning call. It had been a few days since he had found time to come down and swim, meditate, or even just be by a body of water more voluminous than his shower. He needed to reconnect, to recenter himself, to lose himself for a time. Wearing nothing but his boxers and an undershirt, Mihkkal took a few steps out into the rather chilly water. At first, it felt like tiny pricks of ice against his skin, the sun not having warmed the water as much as he would have preferred, but after a moment all discomfort was gone.

A few steps in, Mihkkal could already feel himself connecting to the elemental magics that empowered him. He felt the push and pull, the ebb and flow, the natural non-static nature of the water around him. His steps became less rigid and more fluid, he was back at home with himself. Closing his eyes, Mihkkal forgot about everything around him for a moment, Kanat included. He could feel the barrier between himself and the water thinning. He had morphed several times under his father’s supervision before. He had even once morphed ‘with’ him, though he was not the one who had initiated it. The feeling of oneness with the water, of slipping into his elemental form, it was just about to overtake him when Kanat’s voice once again cut through the nothingness that had overwhelmed him as he stepped further into the water.

Opening his eyes, Mihkkal realized he was about 6 or so feet from Kanat. He had gotten a bit ahead of himself, taking longer, fluid strides and losing himself in his mind. Shaking his head to keep from drifting into a morph without realizing it or intending to (that had happened once and he had been so embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to control himself and his morph) Mihkkal turned back towards Kanat and sat down next to him. Being a bit taller than Kanat, Mihkkal’s shoulders were above the water. He sat there, facing out with Kanat and just looked on at the peacefulness of the water before the two of them. Reaching over, Mihkkal took Kanat’s hand and intertwined his fingers with the other boy’s. “I hope this is ok as far as touching goes…,” he said. “It’ll be a little easier to keep myself from slipping away with a little more, sustained contact between the two of us.” Mihkkal didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that he could morph when he wasn’t altogether sure if Kanat could or not. Regardless, by sitting so close to Kanat, intertwining their hands, being present together, he was fairly sure he wouldn’t lose it.

Mihkkal let a few minutes pass, focused on his breathing, and let himself drop into a rhythm. As he did, he looked over at Kanat. He smiled subconsciously. His boyfriend looked perfect to him in this situation. The water caressing his smooth skin, the sun at just the right angle. It was perfect. Mihkkal took a deep breath and scooted himself a little closer to Kanat, until their arms were touching skin to skin. Even as he did so, he said nothing. The gentleness of the touch said plenty. There was no need for words. The two would be in sync soon if Kanat wasn’t already able to tell how and what Mihkkal was thinking and feeling. As time passed, it could have been hours, days, or minutes. Mihkkal had no concept of time. ‘If only this could last forever,’ he thought to himself as he once again closed his eyes and relaxed into his meditation.