Who: Jem and Will Where: Their place When Today What Violin playing and other things Status: Complete Rating: Low/None
Jem had had quite a few more dreams over the last couple of weeks; De Quincey's party, the fight with Will afterwards and then taking Tessa for a walk to show her his favorite place and to explain his condition to her. The same condition that he was now ailing from in real life. Merlin and Severus thought they could possibly cure him, but seeing as how his illness was born from his dreams, Jem wasn't so sure.
Aside from the dreams there were his feelings for both Tessa and Will in real life. He and Tessa had gone out on a date a few weeks earlier and had yet to actually talk about that accidental kiss. Not that it had been much of a kiss really, but their lips had still touched for a moment. Then there was Will who he had to be very careful not to get caught watching when they were in the same room. They still practiced together, so he had to watch him those times and watching Will when he was fighting was mesmerizing.
To try and take his mind off of his two friends, Jem had been practicing the violin much more when he was home, which was what he was currently doing in his room. If anyone heard him they never would have guessed that the month earlier he had no musical talent when it came to instruments.
Will had also been dreaming and as such was increasingly more worried about Jem. His dream counterpart worried too and it upset Will to see how he was thought of thanks to the persona he put on because of the curse. When the truth was Will loved every single person at the Institute, far more than anybody knew or would ever know most likely.
He'd been getting along well with Tessa their mutual love of books and their gentle teasing of each other was nice and it almost felt like a courtship. Or it would if not for one thing. Jem. Will felt torn inside, he practically craved his friends company and something fluttered inside him when Jem smiled. It was confusing to say the least.
So he did what dream Will did so well and played a part, acting cool and playful while inside he felt anything but.
Arriving home he heard the violin and followed the sound, it was almost familiar and he was drawn to it. Standing in the doorway he watched Jem play, his face looking beautiful in concentration and Will's breath was stolen as he watched.
Jem was so lost in the music he was playing that he hadn’t realized that Will had come home or that he was watching him. It wasn’t until Church, who had been laying on Jem’s bed saw Will and jumped off the bed to come rub up against Jem’s leg that he realized his roommate and Parabatai was there. Spotting him in the doorway, Jem lowered the violin and smiled, “I didn’t hear you come in. Have you been home long?” He moved back to his bed where the violin case was open and he gently set the instrument inside with the bow.
“Long enough to listen to you playing so beautifully” Will told him smiling as he walked closer and came to sit on the bed, “You can keep playing if you want. I like hearing it. It reminds me of the dreams” It was easier now with Jem not to always be the cocky guy he usually was and just be normal. A side not many people saw.
Jem smiled and closed the violin case then looked up at Will, “Thank you. And I’ve already been playing for some time now, so I think that’s enough for today.” He still couldn’t believe how good he’d become so quickly. “You should have heard me try to play anything a few months ago. This is a definite one eighty.”
Will nodded, a little sad he wouldn't get to hear more but at least now that he could play Jem may play more at home where Will could hear. "Pretty amazing the stuff the dreams give us huh?"
Jem nodded, leaving the violin case on the bed instead of putting it away somewhere, “Well, not everything is amazing, but I know what you mean,” His illness certainly wasn’t amazing, but Merlin was in the process of trying to figure something out for him, so he wasn’t going to dwell on it too much. ‘So, how was your day?”
“You’re going to be fine” Will told him confidently as he moved closer and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “I’ll make sure of it” he promised. He hadn’t meant to be so blase about the dreams, he just hadn’t thought. “My day’s been okay. Reading, writing, the usual for a literature student”
“It sounds utterly thrilling,” Jem smiled at Will before finally picking up the case and moving to set it on top of his bureau, choosing not to ask how Will could be sure that everything was going to be alright, not wanting to bring down the mood. “And what are you reading?” It still surprised Jem when he thought about the things that Will enjoyed, because from physical appearance alone, one would never guess that he enjoyed literature so much. The same went for his dream counterpart.
Will chuckled, “It’s better than it sounds. Well if you’re a book geek anyway” he grinned. “We’re studying Dickens at the moment. Great Expectations which I almost know inside out so it’s a breeze” Will was pretty lucky that he didn’t find essays a problem and most of the books assigned on the course so far he already knew and had read. He knew it was unexpected when people found out what he was studying but he had to admit he rather liked shocking people. “What have you been up to?”
“I read Great Expectations a few years ago.” Jem said, coming over to sit on the bed beside Will, leaving a little space between them, “I may have to get it out and read it again,” Jem also enjoyed reading; perhaps not as much as Will, but Jem did have a rather impressive collection of books, “Not too much really. I had the day off today, so I did some grocery shopping then decided to play for a little while.” Of course a little while had turned into two hours.
“I can give you my essay then, when I’m done and you can see if my interpretation is the same as yours” Will grinned at him, leaning over gently to nudge Jem’s shoulder with his own. “You play as beautifully as the dreams. I get the same feeling when you do. It’s truly beautiful music Jem”
“Of course. I’d love to look at your paper when you’re finished,” Jem smiled, cheeks flushing as Will complimented his playing and dropped his gaze to his knees as Will bumped his shoulder, “It’s not that good.” He wasn’t trying to be modest, but he also didn’t think his playing was exceptional. Sure, he could probably play in his sleep now, he knew the songs so well, but that didn’t mean he had to gloat about it. After a moment, he glanced back over at Will, “What feelings?” He couldn’t help but be curious what his parabatai was talking about.
“Great, thanks Jem” Will replied, glad his friend wouldn’t mind looking at his work. He trusted his classmates but he really wanted Jem’s approval. “It’s incredible” he insisted kindly, “Truly Jem, it’s a rare gift” he smiled. Will shrugged, “A kind of calm feeling, safe and warm. Familiar I guess”
Of course Jem didn’t mind looking over Will’s work. After all, he was curious to see what his friend had to say about Great Expectations and Charles Dickens. As Will started talking about how Jem’s playing made him feel, Jem felt the blood rush to his cheeks once again and his pulse rose slightly, “It’s only music.” But he understood exactly what Will was getting at.
It would be interesting for Will too, by reading his essays Jem would see the more intellectual side of Will, the deeper side if you like. A side his dream self tried to hide in order to keep people safe from himself. "It's not and you know exactly what I mean"
“It’s not like I worked for it though.” Jem had simply woken up one morning and been able to play the violin like in his dreams. “It just happened. Like how we can fight now when we couldn’t before.” Jem and Will had been training together on a regular basis now and just like with the ability to play the violin, the things he could do now were all because of the dreams.
“Well you did in the dreams. That must count for something” Will said simply, “And we’re training here now as hard as we do there, if not more so I think that it all works out in the end”
Jem thought about what Will said for a moment and nodded, “I suppose you’re right, in a way. I simply don’t want to take all the credit.” He wasn’t that type of person to gloat about something. It simply wasn’t something he could pull off, even if he tried. “But thank you for the compliment either way.” He smiled at Will once again, glad that he had a friend like him. A friend who he didn’t want to risk losing if he made his feelings known.
"I'm always right" Will said with a wink, "And you can at least take some of the credit. I mean you are the one playing here, at least I don't think the dream Jem has taken over right?" he teased. Having no idea about the thoughts Jem was having.
Jem couldn’t help the way his pulse quickened slightly as Will winked at him and he finally got to his feet, “We should make dinner. Then perhaps I’ll play more after that.” Of course, playing for Will as opposed to Will simply overhearing would likely make Jem nervous, but Will liked to hear him play, so he would play for him.
Will nodded easily and got to his feet too, "Any ideas about what you fancy tonight?" he asked, "You can chose since you're rewarding me later with your playing"
“I suppose we should see what we’ve got in the cupboards. I’m fairly certain we need to do some grocery shopping soon.” Jem wasn’t entirely sure what they had to make for dinner, but he was sure they could put something together. “I’ll choose, but you still need to help.” He wasn’t about to let Will slack off, despite how he felt about the other boy.
"I think you might be right" Will nodded, the cupboards were starting to look a little bare. Though there was always something somewhere it just might not be something they'd normally chose. "I resent the implication I wouldn't help. I pull my weight" Will was, after all, used to living alone and doing it all himself.
Jem smirked as they entered the kitchen and nodded, “Alright. I will agree that you do.” He couldn’t resist teasing Will every now and then, because it was simply too easy, “Now, lets see what we have.”