Magical Bonds

@ BearGirl

Esther was just as nervous as the day before, but her nerves were mixed with excitement. She'd read the chapters he had assigned her twice the previous night, and was pleased to see that the sapling Blaise had charged her with had grown a new shoot overnight, seeming to like the little greenhouse that was now it's home. She waited patiently for Blaise to arrive, wandering down the hall a little when she noticed the magical pull of the paintings, feeling as if they were speaking to her as she stood in front of them.

@ katahdin

Blaise had a long conversation with his family regarding Esther, and then also had quite the magic session to try and make the best decision. His family, though also disapproving of this, agreed that it was their duty to continue the lessons. Esther was still a pruitt and their ancestors had made an alliance with the whole family. She was coming for help and it was their duty to offer it until the alliance was over. Also, it would be a great tragedy to lead her down the path of changing her magical powers. Something that they were sure their own craft would punish them for as she had been chosen.

So, unfortunately, Blaise had to continue this little game with Esther. He walked passed her without saying a word and headed into the greenhouse. Once inside, Blaise motioned her to sit down on one of the stone benches and waited for her to do so. Once she had, he turned to her. "You are sure that you wish to pursue this, despite your parents' wishes?"

@ BearGirl

Esther's attention was diverted from the painting to Blaise when he walked past her, following behind him into the greenhouse and taking a seat when she was instructed to do so. She frowned up at him as he spoke to her, gripping her plant and books a bit tighter in her arms, as if afraid he were about to take them away from her. "Yes, I'm sure." She nodded, biting her lip as she kept quiet for a moment, before deciding she should explain herself a bit more, hoping that he might be more understanding of her situation or willing to help her.

"I've never felt at home with my family. I've always been different, and they've always made my life hell because of it. And I'd always hoped that things would get better when I was old enough to start learning Magic, because I assumed that I would possess Fire Magic like everyone else, and that then they would see that I belonged. But when they found out that I had Earth Magic, everything got so much worse, and they're trying to force it out of me.. I don't even think they care if I eventually would be able to do Fire Magic, they'd rather have me not possess any Magic than have me have Earth Magic." She frowned a little, looking down at the sapling in her lap, gently running a finger over one of the little shoots. "But yesterday, when you showed me all of the ways Earth Magic is wonderful, it felt like I was home and that I belonged somewhere for the first time in my life, and I don't want to give that up, even if it means my parents hate me forever..."

@ katahdin

Blaise was quiet for a moment before giving her a small nod. He suppose that was it then and now he had to really commit to helping Esther learn. "Okay. I will teach you then, but you need to understand some things about this agreement. I will teach you, and I will not tell your parents. However, if anyone from your family comes over here and asks if you are being taught her, due to the alliance, we are required to tell them the truth. Though if they don't ask, then we won't tell. It is up to you to keep this whole thing quiet."

@ BearGirl

Esther looked up at him as he explained the conditions of her lessons, nodding quickly. "Yes, Sir. I promise, I won't tell them. And if somehow they find out, I'll take all the blame." She reassured him, not wanting him to get in trouble with her family because she insisted that he teach her. She was quiet for a few more moments before meeting his eyes again, biting her lip nervously. "Thank you, again, for agreeing... I know that you didn't have to.."

@ katahdin

The man was quick to wave Esther's words off. He didn't want to hear what was about to come next. Especially since what she was saying was untrue. If there had been a reasonable way for Blaise to deny her request, he would have. It just worked out that he couldn't without breaking the alliance and making his own magical standing shaky. "Sit down, put your things on the table. I want to hear about how the reading went and see how your sapling is doing now." Blaise said before walking over to the table that they had used the day before.

@ BearGirl

Esther nodded at his instructions, following him over to the table where she put her books on the table as well as her little potted sapling. "I read all of the chapters twice, they were absolutely fascinating." She said, looking up at him a bit nervously, worried that he wouldn't be satisfied with how her sapling was growing.

@ katahdin

Blaise looked down at the sapling on the table, seeing that it was growing quite nicely, even a bit impressively... Though that was not something he was going to admit to her, especially not while she was still completely a new comer to the art. He didn't want to get ahead of herself. So, instead, Blaise gave a nod to the sapling as a sign of approval before continuing on. "And what in particular did you find fascinating about it? Anything specific that you liked?"

@ BearGirl

Esther was relieved that he was seemingly pleased with her sapling, looking up at him when he asked about the specifics of the reading. "I particularly liked the history of Earth Magic, as well as some of the specifics of what types things can be done with Earth Magic." She explained softly, glancing around the greenhouse. "I always knew that people could create greenhouses like this.. But knew about the other stuff."

@ katahdin

The man nodded to her before he sat down at the table. He ran a hand through his hair before picking up his own magic book and flipping it to one of the first pages. "Well, the first thing we are going to do is to see if you can hone in your magic." He took the sapling and set it down on the table in between them. "Now, this sapling has been soaking in your magic since you got it. This is because you currently have no control over it. Your magic is just loose and doing allowing everything and anything to use it. What you first must do is learn how to hone it, how to contain it so you can use it." Blaise pointed to one of the nubs. "Turn this into a long branch without growing the rest." He knew that this was going to take some time.

@ BearGirl

Esther nodded a little as she listened to his instructions, frowning a little as she turned her attention to the sapling, as if trying to decide the best way to go about her task. After a while she swallowed nervously, placing her hands on the sides of the pot as she attempted to grow the part of her plant that he had requested she grow, doing her best to concentrate on only letting her magic affect that part of the plant. However, because of her inexperience, the entire sapling grew a few inches before she pulled her hands, back, frowning a little in disappointment and expecting to be reprimanded for not being able to control herself and perform the task. "I.. I don't think I can.." She admitted softly in defeat, biting her lip as she risked a glance up at Blaise, expecting him to be disappointed.

@ katahdin

Blaise was quiet as he watched the woman get to work. He could feel the magic flowing through her and the plant and it wasn't difficult to figure out that she was not quite doing it right. Though, he expected a task like this to take some time. Blaise doubted that she had even done much wielding of her power before this. How was Esther to know how to move it ever so tenderly? When she spoke, his head lifted back to her face, looking unamused at the girl. "If you think that learning this magic will come easy to you, that you can master spells in a matter of minutes, then you are a fool." Blaise said before picking up the plant from the table. "If you need a break, we will move on but I expect you to practice."

@ BearGirl

Esther frowned as he reprimanded her, shaking her head a little. "No, that's not what I meant, I just.." She started before frowning and looking back down at the table in front of her. "I don't want to be a disappointment anymore... My family is already disappointed in me, and the last thing I want is to disappoint you too, when you've been kind enough to help me.." She shook her head a little, as if trying to dismiss her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I'm being foolish and I keep interrupting. I won't do it again, I promise. But I can keep trying, if that's what you want, or we can move on, whichever you suggest." She said quickly, hoping that he wouldn't be upset with her for interrupting the lesson with her foolish concerns.

@ katahdin

The hard look that was across Blaise's face lightened up as Esther spoke. He did feel bad for a moment, hearing that she thought herself a disappointment to her family. It was hard to hear, though it changed very little for him and his position. His face harden up once again and he shook his head at her. "You should not be concerned about what I think about you. Be focused on yourself and the magic that you posses. Focus on improving that and everything else will figure itself out." He said as he turned back to her and set the plant down on the table for her again. "Try again. Take that nonsense out of your mind and focus on this."

@ BearGirl

Esther missed Blaise's face lighten up, having been staring down at her lap expecting him to reprimand her. She probably would have felt more confident if she had seen his reaction, however, as at least then she would know that he didn't outright despise her. She looked up when he began to speak to her again, frowning a little as she watched him place the plant between them again. She gave him a hesitant look, but sighed and placed her hands back on the sides of the pot, concentrating as she poured her magic into growing the plant. Once again, she only succeeded in growing the entire thing, as opposed to just growing one part, and after a moment she pulled her hands back with a little frown, biting her lip as she glanced up at him for a moment before looking back down at the plant. She let out a little sigh, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before she placed her hands back on the sides of the pot, closing her eyes as she concentrated. At first, the entire plant began to grow, but as she concentrated the growth of the entire plant slowed, while the little shoot that Blaise had instructed her to grow continued. While it wasn't exactly what he had instructed her to do, it was still progress.

@ katahdin

Blaise watched Esther work in silence, continuing to feel her magical energy as it flowed from her and into the plant. He was pleased that it did not take Esther too long to show some process. Though it was not exactly what he wanted. No matter, there was time for Esther to continue to practice and as long she did, Blaise was sure that there would even be more progress tomorrow. "Stop for now. You are getting the idea, but you will need to practice more. Besides, you have grown that plant out of the pot it is in." Blaise motioned Esther to follow him to another table, which had plenty of supplies surrounding it in cabinets, under the table and ect. "Do you know how to pot a plant? It needs a bigger one now that you're growing it."

@ BearGirl

Esther's eyes fluttered open when he instructed her to stop, looking up at him as he she stopped growing the plant, glancing down to see how overgrown it was, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks. "Sorry.. I'm sure I'll do better next time." She promised as she followed him to the other table, holding the pot in her arms as she looked over all of the supplies before nodding. "Yes, I do. Once instead of doing my chores I spent my time with one of the gardeners my parents had hired, and she taught me... Do you know what kind of plant this is?" She asked curiously, wondering if he would let her know now that she had made progress and the plant was getting bigger.

@ katahdin

The man shook his head at Esther, disappointed that she had already forgotten one of her homework assignments. "It is up to you to find out what kind of plant that is." He reminded her. Blaise pulled out a rather big pot. In truth, it was too large for the plan that Esther had, however he was rather sure that it would continue to grow rather quickly. "Here is your new pot. You may go ahead and replant it now." With that, Blaise turned and headed down one of the paths of the greenhouse to take care of some of his own plants. He figured he did not need to supervise this.

@ BearGirl

Esther smiled sheepishly, shrugging a little. "I know.. I figured it was worth a try to get you to tell me anyway." She shrugged a little, taking the pot from him with a little groan, nodding when he instructed her to repot the plant. She was extra careful in taking her plant from it's current pot, careful not to break the roots that had overgrown and started to creep out of the bottom of the pot. She carefully shook the dirt from its roots before placing it in the pot, dumping in the soil one handful at a time, making sure that the roots were well supported and covered after she finished, scratching at her cheek, leaving a streak of dirt across her cheek. When she was finished she looked around the greenhouse, wondering where Blaise had gone.

@ katahdin

Blaise was on one of the edges of the greenhouse, looking up at a rather large tree that near reached the top of the ceiling. A bit of a smile on his face as he looked at it. The man then took a few steps forward and started to water the plant using his powers. It was his responsibility, as the youngest in his family, to tend for the plants in the greenhouse on a daily basis. Of course, the others came and assisted but if something died, or wasn't cared for properly. it was his fault.

Once the tree was properly watered, Blaise took a step back and let out a small sigh. Oh there were definitely other things that he wished he could be doing right now besides teaching some fire family girl.