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It was the first day of his new chapter. Bellefonte academy, a school for the gifted. A new start to being invisible, unable to be seen by those around him. A time to build new walls and new peace. Though, he had to meet with this one person. They said she would be able to help him, able to train him. They called her Natalie. He knew nothing about this Natalie, but as the school had him on profile, she probably got forewarned about her student. Rowan was timid, with a few withdrawal and behavioral issues. He was a generally timid kid, but after his disappearing act at his old school, he was a different kid temporarily. Who knew what other side effects he had. He had learnt that he could manipulate the shapes of shadows on walls to a meter radius, though too much usage caused him exhaustion. He had also become rather paranoid. Fearing something was always watching him.
Alas, he was walking the halls trying to locate the classroom given to him for training. He was told the location of the classrooms in general, the only other information he had was that there was a specific room that controlled the dimness of light. He had his hood up, nervously peeking into each room eventually finding the one assigned to him. What would his instructor be like? Was she nice? Would she be okay with him? Able to handle him? Some teachers could, and others couldn't, would it be the same here at Bellefonte? Would it be pointless for him to turn up? No sooner than he had these thoughts, he had entered the room and closed the door behind him. The current light intensity in the room was somewhere between light enough to see, but dark enough to leave enough shadow for his talents.
This was the first student she was assigned that did not have an ability relating to animals, but Natalie was assured that she would be the best trainer for Rowan Taylor, and she had to trust that. Still, she couldn't deny that the idea made her nervous, but she did her best not to let it show. The tall woman sat waiting in the training room after having set up a small set of obstacles that could produce a proper shadow, even in the low light.
In the corner of the room, a large German Shepard and a smaller mixed dog were laying down, only to poke their heads up when a boy entered the room. They brought Natalie's attention to Rowan, and she closed the file and set it aside on a small table, standing as she beckoned him further inside the room.
"You must be Rowan," Nat smiled warmly, extending a hand out to him, knees bending so she could be closer to level with him, given her own height and his lack thereof. "Welcome to Bellefonte."
He first noticed the obstacles and the shadows they had created, then he noticed the dogs in the corner, then the tall woman. Or maybe he was just short. Either way. He lowered his hood and peered up at his trainer, he took her hand timidly and shook it gently. No longer than he had to before retracting his hand. He was looking around the room still, in silence. He nodded confirmation that he was indeed Rowan. Who else would be turning up in the darkened room? He had no doubt she had other students, but surely she would have a schedule. Still... his thoughts lingered on how this would go. She seemed okay so far, but what about when they started training? Would she give up on him? He shook his head to clear it and gazed up at his teacher.
Not a word from the boy, but Natalie hadn't let her smile waver. "I'm Miss Arazi. It's a pleasure to meet you." She eased herself back up, standing over a foot taller than the boy who was looking around the room. She was told he was shy, and she supposed that those who wrote up his file truly meant it. She gave him a few minutes to take in the sight of a training room he'd grow to be familiar with in the coming years.
She glanced over towards the canines, and with a tilt of her head and a mental request, they were shifting to their legs, slowly making their way over towards them both. The smaller of the two's tail wagged with high energy. "Do you like dogs?" Natalie asked, "This is Jodie," she gestured to the large German Shepard, "and Oz." The smaller mixed dog approached him, sniffing the air around Rowan. "They'll be here with me every training, if you're comfortable with that."
Rowan's attention moved back to the dogs as they came closer. "I-I like d-d-dogs... I l-like animals..." Rowan said softly, almost inaudibly. He knelt to pat Oz, feeling the soft silky fur beneath his fingers. She felt cool to the touch. the tongue however was slimy and licking his free hand, he wiped the drool on his pants. He then stood and turned his attention to Jodie. He was on his knees hugging her, feeling the soft fur in his fingers, and against his face. She was soft and fluffy, he liked that. Soft. Fluffy. Smells nice. Warm. He had the faintest of smiles, but his eyes gave him away, they were bright, big. He liked Jodie the most. Oz was cute, but Rowan liked Jodie more. She was bigger, and cuddly and warm, and he felt calm and safe with her. He played with her fur by running his hands through it and ruffling it gently. "She's fluffy" Rowan giggled lightly as Jodie shook herself out. He liked the pair of dogs, they made him comfortable for some reason. They reminded him of summer, of happiness, of kindness.
And there it was. Any nerves she had about training someone with abilities so different to her own had completely settled as she watched Rowan's arms wrap around Jodie. The recruiter that sent this boy her way must have known it would be a good match. Her confidence built up as Jodie pressed her chin to his shoulder - large, calm, and as the boy described, fluffy. It made sense that he would like her. Natalie bent down on her knees, placing a hand on Oz as well as Jodie.
"She thinks you're sweet." Natalie pointed out, slowly shifting her weight to sit cross legged on the floor. Although this was supposed to be a training lesson, it was his first day. They had the opportunity to take their time, and maybe she could get him to warm up, at least a little.
"Do you have any dogs at home?" She asked, resting her hands on Oz as she jumped in her lap.
Rowan hadn't even noticed that Miss Arazi had sat down. His full attention was on Jodi. He just continued to hug the dog, eventually closing his eyes. He felt so safe and comfortable, he couldn't understand why. Sure her loved animals, but he was in a new school, with new people, with an instructor he didn't even know, he was so anxious just before, but this dog had captured his heart. She made him feel calm and at ease, reminding him that he didn't have to be alone, that he wasn't invisible, he just had to give others a chance. He reveled in her fur, fluffing it and gently stroking Jodie. He was so focused on her, that he almost didn't hear his trainer speaking to him. He looked up at Miss Arazi, properly, for the first time since entering the room. "N-No pets... P-parents were a-a-allergic." Rowan shook his head. "B-But I used to c-c-cut through a park on m-m-my way home from s-school, so I g-got to p-play with th-the animals. Th-there was one dog I u-used to play with a-a-all the time. His name was Aki... The o-owner said that's J-Japanese for Autumn. Aki was nice. We used to run around and tumble and play, he was sweet..." Rowan smiled fondly at the memory of him and the dog. "I used to get into trouble though. Stranger danger and all that, so I understood." It seemed his stutter disappears when he's comfortable (or distracted by animals at the least). He let go of Jodie so he could take off his bag. He pulled out a smooth black book, and opened it to a page. It was a sketchbook and the sketch he showed Miss Arazi was of a Golden Retriever, the word Aki written near it's back paw.
The moment she caught the boy's blue eyes, her smile widened genuinely. It was a shame that he couldn't have had pets - it might have done well for his nerves. There was a reason that therapy dogs existed. They calmed the anxious - she knew it from her own experience.
When he pulled out a notebook, Natalie looked down at it with sincere interest, dark eyes lighting up at the drawing of the dog described. "Did you draw this?" She asked, having a feeling she already knew the answer. "If so, that is quite the talent you have there." Her fingers reached out, brushing the page lightly. "You manage to capture Aki's spirit, it seems. That's a feat not many can do."
Her head turned to Jodie. "What do you think?" The dog sniffed the air a little bit, drawing a light laugh out of the trainer. "She thinks Aki is quite handsome."
Rowan nodded. "Yeah I drew. R.T, my initials, see?" He pointed to his watermark. It was curvy and neat, a love heart in between the R and the T. "I love to draw. I d-draw all kinds of things. People, animals, landscapes, I draw every chance I get... wh-which is almost all th-the time." Rowan handed her the sketchbook. "Y-you may look through if y-you wish." He smiled snuggling back into Jodie. He liked Miss Arazi, she was nice, patient, wasn't jumping straight into things. Plus she had dogs. Oz and Jodie. Jodie and Oz. Oz, Jodie and Miss Arazi. He liked Jodie best though. No offence to Miss Arazi... He thought, but cute pupper was cute. He didn't have to worry about anything.
With the book handed to her, Natalie took it as an invitation to flip through it, and she turned each page with care and respect the art itself deserved. She didn't need to look up to know that Rowan had snuggled back up with her dog. She gave them the space to be comfortable as she continued to look through his drawings. For his age, it was indeed a talent.
After a few moments, a light hum passed her lips as they cracked into a smile, eventually parting as she let out a light laugh, though likely not for any reason an unknowing eye might think. "It's okay if you like her more than me," Natalie said after a few seconds, not shifting her gaze from the sketch she had just flipped to. "I don't blame you." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "Jodie's quite the charmer."
Supposing she should explain, Natalie finally tore her eyes from the sketchbook. "She can tell that you like her so much, and she likes to rub it in a bit." The tail end of the sentence brought a scrunch to her nose as she grinned.
He looked up from playing snuggling Jodie's fur when Miss Arazi started speaking. It appears that Jodie had told her that he liked Jodie. But her tone wasn't mean or angry, Miss Arazi was quite the opposite, laughing and smiling with a crinkle to her nose. He smiled a little. It was nice just being able to relax, he wasn't sure how it would have gone if he had some real strict trainer who went straight into practice, but it seems the Recruiters and the school itself, knew what worked and what didn't, so... either way he glad, it meant he could tackle training at his own pace. "Uhm... M-Miss Arazi? I think I'm o-okay to start training." He looked over smiling.
He was smiling more now, and the trainer was a bit proud that she had even gotten that far with someone who looked so nervous walking through the door. Slowly, she closed the notebook, extending it back out for him to take with one hand, the other rubbing Oz's ear lightly. "You almost sound eager," Natalie gave a little chuckle. It was always different depending on the student. Some wanted to really dig into their powers, and some wished they never had them.
"I'd like to learn a little about you before we do," Natalie explained further. She read the file, but it was a whole different experience when it came from a student's actual perspective. "Can you tell me what it felt like when you hid in the shadows the first time?"
Rowan was warming to the idea of his powers, and training them was important, but he was neither enthusiastic about them, nor did he condemn them. They saved him after all. He was just not one to complain, honest enough sure, but if he wasn't asked, he didn't complain. That's just the way it was. But here he was safe and comfortable, so he saw no need to prolong practice. He put his notebook away and thought for a moment. "I-I don't really know.... I w-was being b-bullied and it just happened. I was afraid and upset, and suddenly poof he ran r-right past where I was. I d-don't really know anything o-outside of that." Rowan responded, thinking carefully back to that moment.
Natalie offered her full attention to Rowan as he explained, noting the way his stutter was coming back. A silent thought and Jodie's nose poked against his shoulder at an attempt to offer him some sort of comfort. She nodded at his story. "So it hadn't felt any different at all?" It was understandable, but she wanted to be sure. She herself hadn't even realized she was talking with a stray dog when her own powers first manifested.
"And have you been able to replicate it since? Or tried to?"
Rowan leaned into Jodie glad for the dog's comfort. Rowan shook his head. "I don't remember." He said simply, snuggling into Jodie's fur. He took a moment to calm himself, hiding into Jodie. "I haven't tried to repeat it... I d-d-dunno how." He mumbled into Jodie's soft fur. "I just remember f-feeling upset and afraid..."
