Kitten in a Box - Locked to grimholdkeeper

[puresilverpaws]

It was warm, quiet and dark. He wasn't sure where he was at first, as his senses began to awaken. He felt a soft blanket underneath him. Slowly moving, he sat up, his head gently nudging up the flap of the large cardboard box.

...A fireplace? This wasn't his room. Sure, he made a lot of forts, so being in a box wasn't unusual.

"Myieeeu..." It had an interesting smell about it, and, nervously, he ducked back down into the warm box, curling up within the confines once more, and pawed at a corner of it, his claws lightly scratching it. Maybe if he stayed hidden, he could figure things out better? Were he really aware of his real self, he might have boggled at the fact that first the hotel aged him up, and now it had aged him down to ten.

At least the hotel had put him in Balthazar's room? Furthermore, the box was very large, as if made for one of those older, heavier TVs. But anything smaller would not hold him.

Comments

[little-roi.livejournal.com]

Roi takes the ring, looking it over intently, and then tries to fit the ring on. It's too large for his pinkies, so the index finger of his right hand will have to do. It's a little snug, but not uncomfortable. While he looks it over, his ears remain upright and pointed towards Balthazar, paying attention to him even though his eyes are focused elsewhere.

[grimholdkeeper.livejournal.com]

Balthazar says nothing for a moment, waiting to see if the ring will interface with Roi's nervous system. There's no dramatic sparking or anything overtly magical that occurs, but Roi may notice the ring becomes pleasantly warm, quite quickly. At length, the sorcerer smiles and holds out his own hand, displaying the large gem there. "How does it feel?"

[little-roi.livejournal.com]

The sudden surge of warmth almost startles him, and he holds down the impulse. If that's a sign, he doesn't want to let his surprise do anything bad.

"It's... warm. It was a bit weird. I wasn't expecting that. Is it supposed to do that?" Roi's ears tilt to the sides as he regards the ring.

[grimholdkeeper.livejournal.com]

"It's a good sign." He smiles and takes Roi's hand. "I'm going to direct some energy through you, first, to make sure it's working well for you. Just try to relax, okay?"

The gem on Balthazar's ring glows, light gathering in the facets. After a moment, he reroutes the energy into Roi through the hand-to-hand contact, carefully. Suddenly, both rings are lit up like Christmas trees.

[little-roi.livejournal.com]

The feeling of foreign energy unnerves him, and the fur on Roi's tail stands on end, as well as a few shorter strands of hair on his head.

Even so, he holds perfectly still and holds down his urge to be skittish of the foreign sensations. Balthazar told him not to transform, and so he won't.

[grimholdkeeper.livejournal.com]

"That's a good sign," he says softly after a moment, watching the rings glow. "You have some ability."

He eases off on the power flow, and his ring goes dim, but Roi's continues glowing faintly. Balthazar smiles, thoughtful but pleased. He looks around the room a moment, then points at the bed. "Let's try something. Look at the way the blankets lie on the bed. Even that way, there's air between them and the mattress. Try to imagine filling up that space with more and more air, until the blankets start to fluff up and lift away. Can you do that?"

[little-roi.livejournal.com]

"...Maybe?" Roi's not confident. Is this like telepathy? Wait, his phrasing. Move the air so that the blankets move? He decided to try that.

Pulling his focus as best he can, he looks to the bed and points the ring at it.

Move. He wants the air to move under the blankets (for starters.) He believes in magic, but it's hard to believe, for him, that he has this sort.

[grimholdkeeper.livejournal.com]

"Believe in yourself, dear heart," he smiles reassuringly. "I've had over a hundred fifty students. If I see potential in you, it's there."

He watches the blanket patiently as Roi makes the attempt. With most of his students, it took a few minutes of effort to get so much as a twitch, and they wore out quickly, but given Roi's from a different world, and a different type of being, he's not sure how it will all work.

((I'll let you decide how the magic attempt works out, unless you want me to.))

[little-roi.livejournal.com]

Roi tends to be stubborn when it feels that it matters the most. He does not expect anything to happen for awhile, though Balthazar talking to him briefly takes his concentration away. He pauses, looking to him at the 'dear heart' comment, and his face turns a little bit pink in embarrassment.

He turns back to try again, imagining the air moving under the topmost blanket that he can see. It soon begins to feel like an hour, but it's really only a few minutes, when the corner of the blanket flutters outward just a bit, and then goes limp again.

The movement itself distracts him, his instincts overtaking his concentration in an instant. He makes a feline chirping noise at it, and has to hold at bay the urge to see the bed as prey.

[grimholdkeeper.livejournal.com]

He looks apologetic at the blush, but doesn't say anything else for the moment, just watching the child in action. When the blanket flutters, he inhales softly, then beams. "Ah! Well done. See, I told you you had it in you."

He ruffles Roi's hair again. "You don't look too worn out, either. That's a good sign."

Outwardly, he's calm, but his heart is going fast all of a sudden. The implications are huge. Even if Roi's not the Prime Merlinian--and he's held the ring to no reaction, so that seems to be the case--he's a potential sorcerer. One with a good heart and a number of physical advantages. He could be a remarkable, even pivotal, Merlinian.

Balthazar hasn't had a student in a while, and part of him is reminding him of the danger his teachings could put Roi in. But he wants to teach him. He wants to bad.

He takes a deep breath. Probably he should start the stew and give them both time to mull this development over.

[little-roi.livejournal.com]

Roi makes a noise in his throat as his hair is ruffled.

Since the ring isn't taken away, Roi looks down at it, and then back up to Balthazar. "Do you.. want me to keep trying?" He has energy to spare, and he wants to, but if it's unwise to continue for now, he'll take Balthazar's say-so to heart.

Speaking of, his senses can very faintly pick up the rapid sound at such close proximity.

"...You seem to be... excited?"