Solo Taught a Lesson

[Zeran]

53rd Day of Summer, 513 AV A pot of paint and brush could be responsible for many things. A mess or masterpiece, writing or erasing a message, robbing or adding colour. Only two things were required and you could do a variety of things with the items. Motivation and skill. At a solid, expertly-crafted table set in the room Lady Elena had presented to him as a part of his job, Zeran was quickly learning that having more than required of one did not substitute any amount of the other. Magic had a pull on those that used it, dangling the proverbial carrot to edge wizards further on. Power would do that to a person. Merely a taste to get you started but leaving behind a craving for more. Start with one, master it if you have the skill. Try another, there will be more things you could do that eluded you before. One more, they'll notice you, accompanying a promise. The promise to stand above all others, shaping the existence of all around you, bending reality at your desire. The ambitions of idiots. Let their ignorant greed slow their progress. Zeran scrutinised his handiwork. Whilst focus glyphs entertained different designs, from one to the next, all examples he had seen had been round. The one he had sketched onto his left palm was more reminiscent of an egg than a circle. An egg dressed in ancient runes from a language long forgotten. Displeased with their appearance, the painted lines rearranged themselves before Zeran's eyes with choreographed movement. The glyph stared at him, lips moving as it ordered in Zeran's voice, "Do better." And he did, grabbing the coarse cloth bunched nearby and vigorously wiping his canvas clean. There had never been any real interest to learn every discipline of magic in Zeran's mind. He much preferred the ideal of 'less is more'. The less attention you draw to yourself, the more you'll be able to get done. Being prepared for any situation was nice, but magic was just another tool to be used. Dangerous to your health if used incorrectly. The more you carried with you, the slower you were in learning how to use them effectively, besides just slowing you down. And when the time came, you were spoilt for choice. Travel light. Choose quickly. Be creative enough in one to have the applications of many. And that was where Zeran's interest had taken root. Lady Elena's experiment hadn't left him wanting to learn a new discipline of magic, glyphing in this instance, it left him wanting to further the uses of his current disciplines. Speed was an advantage for most magic disciplines. Fortunately, glyphing's speciality was associating itself with other disciplines. Being beneficial or detrimental was down to the wizard's choice and sense of humour. Using short, delicate strokes, Zeran imitated Lady Elean's technique when she had been so set on making it tickle. The starting of the circle was rough, more angular where each new stroke began at an angle to the last, rather than curving smoothly from one line to the next. It wasn't an immediate problem. He could go over the lines as Lady Elena had done. Neither did he care for any complex and beautiful design. Zeran just wanted it to work without any physical or mental harm. If that meant sticking with circles and lines then that was fine by him. Not that you're incapable of anything more intricate after all. You're doing so well with simple shapes. Strange how many lines that naturally appeared on his hand, and even more that were highlighted only as the paint sink into them. The brush didn't tickle or aggravate this time. Zeran wasn't sure why he couldn't tickle himself but knew it made his already-poor job easier. Chimes passed in agonisingly slow movements and silence. The give in the skin on his palm enough to mute the strokes of the brush. The regrouping of the bristles, as the angle became too steep for the applied pressure, smothered out by Zeran's slow breathing. Lady Elena had made this look so easy, drawing six in half the time it had taken him to fail drawing one. Looking at his effort now, at least the first thing that came to mind was 'circle'. Smoothing out the edge was as much of a daunting task as drawing it. The circle was there, it just needed smooth edges, but any mistake and he'd have to start from the beginning. Unless he could cover it up enough that it was no longer visible. Circle... Now what? A pair of arms slipped around his neck, as hands slid across his chest and down his sides, feeling their weight rest on his shoulders and pull him back into his chair. "All attention on me now dear. You've ignored me since I entered the room." Her voice was full of sorrow and pleading, both mockingly so. Whilst true he hadn't been paying enough attention to hear the door open, Zeran doubted Lady Elena made any attempts to announce herself until she thought he couldn't get away. It was possible, but if she hadn't felt like toying with him she would've made herself heard. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of her Ladyship's presence?" voice equalling her own tone, craning his neck to see her leaning over the back of his seat. She shrugged, as if unsure herself. "Companionship, thoughtfulness, your job," she replied nonchalantly, eyeing the circle on his palm. Simple shape, simple design, novice learner. "How about semi-circles just touching in the centre? Two pairs perpendicular to each other, like funnels?" She wasn't about to miss a chance to educate those employed under her. They would only become more valuable. Pushing off his shoulders, Zeran set to doing as she suggested as Elena made her way slowly over to a seat of her own. Advice from the Mistress of the Manor was best not wasted. She taught on her student's level, not instantly assuming they were as proficient as herself. If they were, they usually had no need for her lessons. She watched, analysing the brush strokes, his concentration, the technique, anything she could see as Zeran sketched the first semi-circle out within his primary circle. He occasionally glance at her, when doing so wouldn't cause risk to the lines. Lady Elena watched with an unblinking intensity that told him she was judging his capabilities. Rewriting old beliefs, discarding assumptions proved wrong, enforcing others and creating new. She was keeping track of each of her companions' strengths, weaknesses and uses. It was unsettling knowing a momentary mistake could result in a lasting impression. "What is it you want of me today then, Lady Elena?" One pair of semi-circles done, and Zeran wasted no time moving onto the next pair, dipping the nib of the brush into the paint pot. Too much was worse than too little. It made a mess and smudged. Elena's expression changed to match the lightness of her voice, though her eyes didn't move enough to lose their intensity. Woman could multi-task just about anything if she wanted to. Zeran was sure of it. "I said I was going to improve your Hypnotism so you could take over sessions when I am busy with other matters, remember sweetie?" She's giving me a lesson now? He took his time with his reply, concentrating more on the smooth lines of the glyph-taken-form on his palm, unsure how that would be marked against him. "I'm sure I'd be reaching the end of my uses if I forgot, Lady Elena." Thickening the lines now, making it easier for the funnel-shapes to be filled solid. Lady Elena smiled, chuckling slightly, "That's good dear. You'll be taking part in a Hypnotism session with me today." Zeran had thought as much. She stood, pacing slowly towards him again as the funnels turned from natural skin to black in colour. Her arms retuned to where they had been when she made her presence known, resting her head next to his on arm and shoulder, eyeing the glyph. She had a strong, yet pleasant scent about her, not overpowering at all. Elena remained silent as she observed until the focus glyph had been finished. Zeran smiled, proud of his work. He only needed to test if it did its job. Elena turned to his ear, nose brushing across his head, softly saying, "Your student is waiting for your lesson outside. I'll have him shown in now for you." She always found great amusement in his reactions to her hidden portions of info, widening eyes and slightly hanging jaw. Zeran was unsure if the glyph had done its job, or he had literally jumped out of his skin.

[Zeran]

"Isn't there some adage about running babies being scolded for not learning to walk first?" Zeran whined, knowing full well outright protesting would fall on deaf ears. "I'm not exactly the best example of a teacher the great Lady Elena has to offer. Sometimes I wonder if your reputation is worth as much as to you as you like us to believe." Even now, Lady Elena didn't appear to be listening to him, as she carried herself towards the door. She'd probably shut off after the announcement. "Good thing you're not a baby then, isn't it dear?" She was listening, it seemed. A playful smirk crossed her face as she looked over her shoulder at him. "And it is, which is why I'm going to be watching how you do. I would've thought asking you this would show how much I trust my companions." Lady Elena slowly pulled down on the handle of the door, poking her head through the partition, and called out a short command. "You see more than I do Lady Elena," Zeran continued to moan. The latch of the door clicked shut once more as Elena turned round to lean her back against it, attentively watching him. It was always nice to believe you were trusted by those around you, but perhaps she trusted him too much if she thought it likely her reputation wasn't going to get tarnished in the slightest from her sudden decision. "Though you seem to miss that I don't care too much for reputation." Zeran pulled his limp hand up to his face, inspecting the simple design of the paint on is palm, clenching and unclenching his astral fingers. He hadn't exactly had long to experiment, but at least he got somewhere before being called on. He looked away, back at the items scattered across the tabletop. Elena may have fancied taking her lessons on one of her many divans but Zeran preferred the sound of having a table to lean on as he taught his unfortunate victim, rather than them like she did. He doubted his actions would have the same effect. "Don't worry too much about me dear." How much did she think he should worry? "I'll intervene before it gets too bad, if I must." Ah, that much. Nice to know she's willing to take some damage on this risk. Paint, brush and cloth. All that he had needed, not taking too long to tidy up either. It seemed a waste to just wipe the glyph on his palm away so quickly. Especially after the effort he put in to drawing it. So Zeran made the most of it, before his new student managed to push Elena off the door and grace the pair with their presence. His hand, the only place he had managed a glyph, slipped in and out with instant ease, as it had done when Lady Elena had drawn them herself. The difference made itself known when Zeran attempted to detach his full left arm. With three of Elena's glyphs at each joint, the flow of djed had been smooth and quick. With only the one, though the flow was still quicker than no glyphs, slower than three, it felt awkward and jerky. Not painful, but still rushed. There was no gentle levering of astral from physical, but a meandering rapid of djed, knowing it had to get to the hand, but worried about dislodging everything it had already passed. By the time it had reached his wrist, the shoulder was out and the elbow was halfway. Focus glyphs pull the djed towards it. The more in a smaller proximity, the smoother the flow. It was all he could think of without further playing. "Why suddenly throw this at me, Lady Elena," he found himself asking, rubbing the glyph off as his arm reattached. Though she had said it was her intention to get him to teach, Zeran knew nothing about it. He had been expecting Elena to at least explain a few basic points before asking him to actually try with someone. Even then, he thought it would be one of the other companions, or herself, criticizing how he did along the way. Elena had other plans. She shrugged from the door, as if his concerns were nothing. "Practical experience is so much better than any number of theory lessons, I find. You've watched enough of my lessons to have picked up enough to handle things on your own." Wow, she really has high expectations of us... A knock resonating from the door announced the arrival of his student. Elena made a grand gesture of opening the door and ushering the timid, young man in. He didn't look to know what to make of Elena's exaggerated door-opening skills any more than Zeran did. Elena smiled warmly at him, introducing herself and her companion, as the guy took nervous steps into the room as if he were expecting something to jump him. If that were the case, he'd do well to not take his eyes of Lady Elena for very long. Personal space might be considered a foreign concept to the estate owner. The newcomer looked from Lady Elena to Zeran, trying to decide what to make of either of them, but walked further into the room with more confident steps now. He turned back to the door, where Elena had brought it to once again, likely to be left as such until the end of the lesson. "Thank you for the lesson, Lady Lariat," he said with more assurance than his gait would have suggested. A practised line. The lad was trying to make a good impression, not knowing what much else to do. This man wants to make it as a Hypnotist? He'll need a bit more confidence and spontaneity talking to strangers than that. Elena already made light of personal space as she trailed a few fingers across the poor guy's cheek as she walked past. "No need to thank us yet sweetie. We haven't done anything for you that requires it." It was getting use of the Phial that would've required any thanks before its use. Magic sessions weren't so high up that she'd start interviewing clients before teaching them. A good enough impression could be made based on the lessons, when there was always someone with you. Not the case with the Overflowing Phial. "And it's my dear Zeran who you should have to thank for any knowledge shared this session. He's the one who'll be teaching you today. Go easy on him, would you? It's his first time." Zeran remained standing with his wide, stupid grin, looking onwards as they both turned to him. The student looked to tense slightly, confused at the change of teacher to this unsettling individual. Zeran was willing to bet thoughts were running through his head, already eating at his own impression of Elena, about the company she kept. I'm sure she has her reasons. I'm not about to question who Lady Lariat trusts. Whilst he'd hear the thought in his own voice, the risks in implanting longer sentences, rather than statements, were in the wording. He may have referred to Lady Elena was 'Lady Lariat' out loud, but he might take a more informal tone with his own thoughts. He seemed to wrestle with the thought for a moment before accepting it. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps he hadn't paid enough attention to consider the possibility that one of the two other Hypnotists in the room in planted the thought. If he still thought Lady Elena was the only other Hypnotist in the room besides himself, regardless of having been told Zeran was to teach him, this was going to be a long session. "Nice to meet you Zeran. My name's Andrew." He politely nodded his head in greeting. At least he had manners, though the success of Zeran's implant implied he'd been thinking less favourable things. Some things were better left not knowing. Though he had to admit, the thought of hearing what others thought of his usual behaviour would be fun. It would definitely make his poking easier if they weren't able to hide their true intent, but that was what he was learning Auristics for. "Likewise," Zeran replied, gesturing towards the table. "Would you prefer to sit or stand? You'd look wonderful either way." That had sent him back to a similar appearance as when he walked in, only worsened by Elena's poorly-hidden giggle. Andrew made his way over to a vacant chair at the table, whilst Elena moved to take her favourite spot over on the local divan. "Have you at least been initiated into Hypnotism?" A nod. "Clever man, we're off to a good start already."