Telepathic Timebomb
Merlin closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to feel his consciousness creeping out of his skull like a worm from an apple, staying based but reaching out. His target, Arthur, lay in the bed on the other side of the room reading a book, oblivious to the struggle that was building in his friend's mind. Merlin's head throbbed, stinging the backs of his eyes as with a frustrated huff of breath he dropped his effort like a fragile glass, letting it shatter against the bottom of his thoughts, where his emotions currently resided as well. He'd been trying for weeks, off and on, to master telepathy. He'd never really had trouble receiving messages and responding, so long as the conversation occurred on his own turf, but it was beyond him to send his own mind out and contact another. Which seemed like a terrifically useful skill with his sort of luck. Attempting to train himself, however, wasn't going so well. He thought he was tapping into the right sort of focus and energy, but he didn't know how to channel it.
The thought of Ty edged into his mind. It was obvious that Ty was very skilled in the arts of telepathy, but Merlin was leery of asking him for any sort of supernatural aid ever since Vorel had warned Merlin of what was within Ty. In Merlin's mind it was like a parasitic insect that was stealing Ty's body to use as its chrysalis, and all it would take was the right weather to provoke its hatching. The last thing Merlin wanted was to be the spark that set that off. However, after warring with himself on this issue, he figured that since Ty used his abilities daily anyways, it really didn't matter if Merlin came to him or not – he would still keep using his powers. Besides, the sort of things Merlin wanted to learn shouldn't effect the thing inside of Ty anyhow.
A repeat of this argument paraded through Merlin's head until, weary of debating the matter, he concluded irritably that he would go to ask Ty for help.
Swinging his legs off the edge of the bed and striding for the door, he tossed over his shoulder at Arthur, “I'm going to the training rooms,” not pausing to listen for a reply.
Upon his arrival, he searched about for Ty. The telepath was often down here, helping out new recruits or practicing or whatever, Merlin didn't know – Merlin himself rarely spent time in this area of the Tower, preferring to practice his magical craft in privacy and preferring not to practice any physical combat at all, if only to save himself the endless bruises that he knew he would accrue.
A spot of blue arrested his attention, and Merlin smiled as he approached his friend. “Ty! I was hoping to ask you a favor?”