Asher found himself pleased at her intention to obey him, even as he watched the concern piece its way over her features. Though she was hesitant from her slow acceptance of the task to the skin that was likely torn from her lip in the process, she did it without goading. What “it” was seemed an ambiguous concept at this point, and yet there she was, setting her bag and her drink down and returning to sit in the middle of the spacious hall. He watched with pride - though whether that was in her or in his own ability to exert his will over others was almost entirely unclear.
The visual her one cautious eye collected would be no more than what it had been when she sat; Asher stood still, his posture apparently unchanged and laissez-faire. Of course, the truth of it was that he was tense - just apt at hiding it. He was prepared for the best and the worst, anticipation shallowing his breaths despite the lazy, expectant rise of his eyebrows-- which was the only retort to her wary gaze.
Apparently this was enough to get her to try again, and he watched as she wiggled her way back into concentration. Moments passed and his stare hardened, sure he could see something happening. And then it did - but it was over as fast as it had begun. A flash of understanding, a ripple of recognition- and then she snapped out of it, and the vibrations that Asher had been sure he was beginning to see on the surface of her flesh evened out and stopped. Disappointment flooded him - not that she couldn’t do it, but that she’d stopped it from happening - but he covered the emotion with a spark of excitement instead.
“That was definitely something,” he said, a smile coming easily to him as he approached. “I’ve never seen it before in someone so young. Do you want to try again? I’ll walk you through it this time, try to keep you focused.” This was the only concession that he made to noticing her fault, but if she was discerning it might have stood out to her.
Still, Asher came off as understanding - as identifying the problem not by pointing it out, but by immediately offering a solution. A good teacher, he thought, should always do this. Mistakes were only worth pointing out when humiliation was the end goal - here, he needed to build Audrey up, to boost her confidence. Maybe she wouldn’t enact a full transformation willingly after only six months of having been Turned, and what spark she’d already shown was, truly, more than he could have hoped for already. But he’d not gotten to where he was without a little persistance.
“Now,” he began, sitting down to face her and crossing his legs too, perhaps with surprising flexibility. “Close your eyes. Deep breaths.” He did it too, his spine straight and his hands laid loosely on his knees. “Imagine you’re in the forest. You can feel the grass if you touch your hands to the ground.” His fingers brushed the concrete floor, emitting gentle whispers of sound in the otherwise silent room. “You can smell the air after a fresh rain, the dirt and sap.” His voice echoed between them, and he took another deep breath. “It’s dark. Pitch dark; any sky you can see through the branches of the trees around you is deep navy, endless and all encompassing. There isn’t any cloud cover - if you step out from the canopy you know the Moon will bathe you in its light. Are you ready?” Asher paused, briefly opening one eye just in case her only response was to nod.
“You take one step. Two, three. By the time you get to five, your whole body is swathed in light, and it feels as strong as the sun used to - stronger. And it seeps into your pores, as though your skin is thirsty for it. Drink it up, let it burrow deep, let yourself absorb it. Absorb it and expand.” Then, anticipating a reaction that he might have to control, Asher opened his eyes - but he didn’t move, and he kept his breath even, pupils constricting as he focused intently on the skin of her forearms.
The visual her one cautious eye collected would be no more than what it had been when she sat; Asher stood still, his posture apparently unchanged and laissez-faire. Of course, the truth of it was that he was tense - just apt at hiding it. He was prepared for the best and the worst, anticipation shallowing his breaths despite the lazy, expectant rise of his eyebrows-- which was the only retort to her wary gaze.
Apparently this was enough to get her to try again, and he watched as she wiggled her way back into concentration. Moments passed and his stare hardened, sure he could see something happening. And then it did - but it was over as fast as it had begun. A flash of understanding, a ripple of recognition- and then she snapped out of it, and the vibrations that Asher had been sure he was beginning to see on the surface of her flesh evened out and stopped. Disappointment flooded him - not that she couldn’t do it, but that she’d stopped it from happening - but he covered the emotion with a spark of excitement instead.
“That was definitely something,” he said, a smile coming easily to him as he approached. “I’ve never seen it before in someone so young. Do you want to try again? I’ll walk you through it this time, try to keep you focused.” This was the only concession that he made to noticing her fault, but if she was discerning it might have stood out to her.
Still, Asher came off as understanding - as identifying the problem not by pointing it out, but by immediately offering a solution. A good teacher, he thought, should always do this. Mistakes were only worth pointing out when humiliation was the end goal - here, he needed to build Audrey up, to boost her confidence. Maybe she wouldn’t enact a full transformation willingly after only six months of having been Turned, and what spark she’d already shown was, truly, more than he could have hoped for already. But he’d not gotten to where he was without a little persistance.
“Now,” he began, sitting down to face her and crossing his legs too, perhaps with surprising flexibility. “Close your eyes. Deep breaths.” He did it too, his spine straight and his hands laid loosely on his knees. “Imagine you’re in the forest. You can feel the grass if you touch your hands to the ground.” His fingers brushed the concrete floor, emitting gentle whispers of sound in the otherwise silent room. “You can smell the air after a fresh rain, the dirt and sap.” His voice echoed between them, and he took another deep breath. “It’s dark. Pitch dark; any sky you can see through the branches of the trees around you is deep navy, endless and all encompassing. There isn’t any cloud cover - if you step out from the canopy you know the Moon will bathe you in its light. Are you ready?” Asher paused, briefly opening one eye just in case her only response was to nod.
“You take one step. Two, three. By the time you get to five, your whole body is swathed in light, and it feels as strong as the sun used to - stronger. And it seeps into your pores, as though your skin is thirsty for it. Drink it up, let it burrow deep, let yourself absorb it. Absorb it and expand.” Then, anticipating a reaction that he might have to control, Asher opened his eyes - but he didn’t move, and he kept his breath even, pupils constricting as he focused intently on the skin of her forearms.
