I Believe in Magic - Phan [#Wattys2017]

Chapter 17 - Don't Say It

Dan went home with Phil again the next evening. He only made a quick stop at his own place to pick up some extra clothes. He couldn't stand to be in that empty house for very long alone. Phil kept him company. He made him feel better. He was the only one there for him, despite his entire staff wanting to help somehow, yet they knew there wasn't much they could do. Only Phil got through to him.

He spent a few more night with Phil, keeping close. Dan couldn't repress his emotion for him. He wondered if by some chance the older boy felt similar to him at all. One night, Dan and Phil were seated closely on Phil's sofa, going over a new performance routine idea for Phil's magic act. Dan decided now was the time.

Just say it, he thought.

"Something you want to say, Dan?" Phil asked.

Dan squinted. Now it was becoming weird. Phil wasn't good at intuition – he was reading his mind. Word for word most of the time. Dan put all thoughts, all feelings, on hold.

"How do you do that?" he asked very seriously. "How do you always end up reading my mind?"

Phil grinned. "Magic," he responded while putting his dazzlingly wide hands up for some pizzazz.

"No, seriously Phil. How? It scares me."

Phil bit his lip. "I trust you," he said. "I can trust you, can't I?"

"Of course."

"You promise you won't tell anyone?"

"You have my word."

"Well," he said slowly, looking down. "It is magic."

"Phil, magic isn't real. Of all people to know that, it would be a magician. Don't you think?"

He put his hands together and kept his head down and away from Dan's eyes. "How do you think I do my tricks? Is it really just an illusion?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Phil looked around. "Take out your phone."

Dan did so and handed it to him. Phil removed the protective case and dropped it to the floor, then stepped on it, and kicked it to the wall. A corner had slightly shattered.

"Phil what are you doing?!" Dan yelped. "That's my phone!"

Phil walked over to where it was and calmly retrieved it. He showed Dan the shattered glass and the ran his left fingers over it, assembling the pieces back perfectly in an instant. He tossed the phone back to Dan and sat down.

Dan's mouth hung open. "H-how..?"

"Magic."

He was silent.

"I was born with it. I can break things if I concentrate too hard. I can fix things with my left hand. I can move and bend ink on paper. I can read minds. I can manipulate people, but I don't do that anymore. It's dangerous. Everything about magic is dangerous, apparently, according to my teacher."

Dan wanted to ask more, but no words came out.

Phil continued. "I got a teacher when I was really little to help me learn to control my powers. But I didn't mean to hurt him. My teacher would force me to do everything perfectly. He liked to beat me and cut me open and make me heal the wounds as punishments for messing things up. He was pretty horrible, but it worked, and now I have full control."

"M-magic?" Dan still couldn't believe the word. "I don't believe it."

"Think of a number."

37.

"Thirty seven. Right?"

Dan could only nod.

"Think of an animal."

Shiba Inu.

"Shiba Inu, yes?"

"How can you do that?! Have you always been able to –"

"No. I learned skills as I aged. But with you, yes." Phil leaned back, somewhat embarrassed to admit his amazing talent.

"What else can you do?" Dan didn't have a choice but to believe.

Phil retrieved a small toy lion from one of his unpacked boxes and compressed it between his hands. When he opened, Dan jumped back as the toy had come to life in the form of a lion-like kitten. He pet it, and it purred like a cat.

"What is this? I don't understand. How are you just born with magic?" he asked as the kitten pawed at him.

Phil pet the animal. "I don't know. My teacher told me once that it just happens, very rarely. You can only have it by birth."

"I have so many questions. Can you sense other magic people? Can you see the future? How do you read minds? Can you live forever?"

Phil laughed. "You seem so interested."

"How can I not be?!"

"Well, the only other person I've known with magic is my teacher and I can sense his presence, so I guess so. No, I can't see the future nor can I live forever. I'm human just like you. What was the other thing?"

"How do you read minds?" Dan picked up the kitten and examined it, but by the time he lifted it, it became a doll again. He dropped it back to the sofa in shock.

"Sorry. I can't give life for something for too long. I don't know why, but it fades."

"Oh."

"Well, I have to meet eyes with a person to read them, but the closer I bond with them, the easier to read. I could read my teacher without looking at him as long as he was in the same room. I can read you just by you being near."

Dan awed. Phil told him about growing up with magic and performed a few personal tricks with him. Dan fearfully watched, completely taken by the acts that this man could do. He lived his whole life knowing magic was just a trick. His entire world changed.

"But you can't tell anyone," Phil said after bringing his kitten to life again. "Ever. I trust you, remember that."

"Believe me, I won't. Why is it so dangerous?"

"I don't know. Something about not being able to control emotions and going crazy and killing everyone nearby by accident or something. But nothing to worry about with me – I promise I'm safe and stable."

"Just wow."

Seeing Phil's magic hands and alluring movements made him remember what he wanted to say in the first place. Just say it, say it now! Dan thought, trying to get the words out.

"Don't say it," Phil reminded him. "I already know." He leaned in and slowly placed his lips awkwardly on the younger boy's. His hand wrapped around Dan's neck to pull him in and hold him. Dan felt an amazing warmth as Phil's kiss rattled his body. His eyes were closed softly as Phil's nose brushed against his. It lasted for hours in Dan's mind, but seconds in reality. "I love you too, Dan," Phil finally said.

He didn't know how Phil knew, but he surely did. His entire perception of reality was destroyed in a single night. He always knew Phil was something special. Something magical. Never could he have imagined that he was anything less than magic. He also didn't ever expect to mean the phrase literally.

He also didn't expect to fall in love with his magician, but it goes to show that expectations are usually anything but accurate.