But a snake will look you right in the eyes [DerLampman ] DISCONTINUED

Clockwise Dream

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@"DerLampman"

The man sitting behind the Administration desk had barely looked surprised when he had raised his eyes to see who was speaking to him, only to be blinded by a glimmering light breaking against the golden scales littering his skin, which only proved to Sebastian how truly weird this place was, considering that the man had only blinked twice, before handing him a form without even bothering to ask what was wrong. Utterly confused, and more than slightly irritated at this point, Sebastian had to fight both the urge to turn into a snake, again, stronger this time than the time before, and than the urge to simply bite even though still in human form. A quick look at the paper now held tightly in his hand quickly stopped the forming of new scales against his skin, however, as well as any emotional tantrum/break down he was about to have, as the first question on the list asked what kind of problem with his powers he was having.

Having calmed himself down, the boy sat himself into the corner after asking the man behind the desk for a pen, and worked his way down the list of over twenty something questions. Some of them he refused to answer: talking to a lover about the things which had triggered the melt down in the first place was one thing, and still more than he could handle alone. Putting them on paper, where any stranger could read it was completely out of question, and he said, or rather, wrote down so, and in quite a colourful language at that, considering the mood he was already in at that point. However, the man sitting behind the desk was yet to do anything but raise his eyebrow slightly in surprise at reading the said answers, some of which contained the most imaginative insults he could come up with. He was quite proud of those, actually and wondered if he could somehow get the paper back in order to save them from being lost inside some failing room where no eyes will probably read them again. The man behind the desk ignored his question however, handing him instead a completely different piece of paper with nothing but a room number, tomorrows, or well, today's date and a seriously too freaking early time of day written on it. What was it with administration, his schedule and classes at the ungodly early hours of the day?

Still, despite that, he was here now, with some help from his lover in terms of actually getting him out of bed, for he truly wanted the small, glimmering jewels off his skin now. He was barely able to look himself in the mirror this morning, which meant that his hair was probably still an outright mess, and god only knew how the rest of him looked. The fact that Hari had still kissed him breathless did not count: his had actually said he loved the damn things marking up his (perfect) skin.

At some point, he had completely lost track of where he was or where he was going, following blindly the instructions of the few stray students actually alive and working so early in the morning. He had never been in this part of the building before, but that didn't mean much, considering that he had barely attended the few classes he did have, none of which had anything to do with controling his powers...or, botany, as the sign of the room he was supposed to enter declared.

''What in the ever loving fuck...'', he cursed, slowly opening the doors after he checked the small paper handed to him yesterday again. He could feel the snake part of himself rising its damn snake-y head again as his irritation grew. ''Damn it'', he cursed. He had come all the way here to get rid of the damn scales, not grow some more because he was irritated into anger!
 

Der Lampman

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@"Clockwise Dream"

"I would advise you against yelling out expletives - there are better ways to express your dissatisfaction, and better ways of convincing the person who decided to attempt help that you would very much prefer not to have assistance."

Aris strode toward the room's door and stopped short of Sebastian, fixing him with a stern glare. He towered over him and put one hand on his shoulder, his grip firm and tight.

He put a few fingers on one of the scales, sighing deeply. People nowadays... grow a scale or two and life was suddenly out of whack. Meanwhile, Aris had horns, green skin, scars... and no one cared in the slightest. Not even him. He voiced his disappointment openly, stifling a yawn. "It was not I who scheduled this meet, keep in mind. Both of us would very much prefer to be asleep, and if you curse without reason in my presence again I assure you I will ignore you, leave, and get the rest I have been lacking all week. Am I making myself clear?"

Before Sebastian could give a response, Aris led him inside. The room was like none other in the academy - there were several sections to it, and apart from that partition of the room where the chairs for students were, there was absolutely nothing to suggest that it was a classroom in the first place. Vines, bushes and trees covered the far back of it. Were it not for the barely visible window, it would not have been out of place in a forest.

"Now, if you would tell me more about your problem. Your papers... while they gave me an overview, it would have been better for both of us if instead of colorful language you just put details instead."
 

Clockwise Dream

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@"DerLampman"

For a moment, Sebastian continued to stand still, frozen in place by the stern look and words. It had been such a long time since he had actually spent more than a few seconds in a presence of a person who actually had authority over him that he had forgotten what it actually felt like. He frowned deeply, unamused. He could have lived without the reminder that he was actually at school, and that there were teachers around, just as he could have lived without the reminder of what it was like to feel small. He had forgotten that as well, having gotten used to look down, or at least be at similar height with 90% of the people ever since he hat hit his growth spurt. This man towered over him, and that unnerved him greatly, setting his teeth on edge for no reason but that. He almost failed to register the green skin and the horns because of it, though even once he did, he almost immediately put it aside as something unimportant. He did not care about these things in others. It was his own extremities and weird jewellery that he could not handle well, or, actually, at all.

''I want this off'', he said pointing to his scales as he tried not to yawn, finally finding enough presence of mind to enter the room after the teacher and respond. The room took another moment of attention, making him look over it half in wonder, half in confusion, before he was focused on what was going on again. He could not take looking like this for one more day, he wanted them off. Now. Everything else could take a second place, or no place at all if it meant he could keep his silence. Something inside him reminded him that he had already spoke about it once, but he growled at it internally (and just a bit externally), and reminded that part of himself that first, Hari was different and second it was bloody talking leading to bloody meltdowns that bloody caused him to look like this in the first place. So yeah, he was determined that there would be no more talking. At all. Ever, if he could help it.

''If I had wanted to put in details instead, don't you think I would have?'', he bit back, somewhat irritatedly. Everything irritated him these days. It was worse than the worst day of the full moon in the past. He jumped between the moods like a kangaroo jumped across the dessert: fast, and long, from one extreme to another, though lately he was kind a stuck on the negative side, doing baby kangaroo jumps.

''It's not like you need them anyway', he continued. ''I just want these off, that's all. The rest of it... it doesn't matter.'' Not now, not ever, not if it meant talking about, well... anything.
 

Der Lampman

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@"Clockwise Dream"

It was too early in the morning for Aris. He never much appreciated not waking up on his own terms, and having an irate young man coming into his room so early grated on his already thin patience.

When he heard that irritation, he yawned and headed to his desk, where he sat down and shut his eyes. Had he any say in the matter, he would be asleep right now in the trees. So he kept his eyes closed and let grass grow on the floor at his feet, and rocked his chair back.

Thinking he'd wasted enough time, Aris let out a deep breath, forcing his voice to not betray the annoyance he felt within. Still, his statement escaped with more than enough of his irritation at this man's impatience. "I could remove them now, but there is a proper way of doing things. This proper way cannot be done without sufficient details. Then there is the shortcut method, which I will willingly do, but I will warn you that it is hard."

A vine crept up the chair he sat on, wrapping around Aris' arm. He amused himself by playing around with it, as if it were some weird snake. He even hissed, aware that he was openly mocking Sebastian with his actions. "Such a shame. Your scales... I have met many people who would kill for those."
 

Clockwise Dream

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''Well, too bad, because I would kill to get them off'', Sebastian said, his bright, anger-filled eyes following the movements of the vine pretending to be the snake in an irritated sort of way, the hissing sound the teacher, whose name he still didn't know and was beginning to care about less and less, echoing mockingly through his ears, into his brain, pushing him over the edge. The snake part of him raised its head, hissing in return through his lips, sounding that it was angry and ready to fight while the other part of his power, closer to surface and easier to wake up now then it had ever been before, even at the beginning, reminded him that he could have everything he would ever want, and the cities could burn down on his command, if only he would open his mouth.

He hasn't done that in a long time, used Seduction on others, not seriously, and at some point he even remembered promising that he never would again. He found, however, that he no longer cared about that promise and that somehow despite his insides being all messed up, and anger and irritation burning hotly through his blood, it was easier than ever to simply open his mouth and order.

And if you do not want it to be your life on the line, teach, you will help me do it. Painlessly, he remembered to add, seeing as he could guess from the other man's words that anything shorter than a proper way would not only be hard, but extremely painful as well. And you will not ask me questions about things I do not want to talk about, he then added as well after a few seconds of silence, his voice thick with power, ticker than he cold ever remember it being. For a moment, he relished at the power, the though of what he could do with it. Then, however, he remembered all the reasons why he hated it, and in the next moment, he was scared stiff. How long would he speak like this this time? Would it go away by the time it was time to leave this room, or would he carry it around with him for hours this time? Maybe even days or months, considering how strongly he could feel the current of that power, flowing slowly through his body before manifesting in his voice.

Damn, he cursed again, despite being told not to, his breathing growing heavy as the panic set into his chest instead of irritated anger, new scales growing one after another across the skin of his hands and forearms.
 

Der Lampman

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@"Clockwise Dream"

Aris felt his control over himself slip at those terse words, as if a switch had been flipped. The plant snake on his wrist died, as did the grass at his feet, leaving behind nothing but brown plant matter. He stood up with a strange drive in his eyes, and with slow, erratic steps walked toward Sebastian.

His eyes were distracted and glassy, his stare almost lifeless. A hand of his went upon Sebastian's shoulder.

And then he gripped, making a sunflower take root in a scale and bloom to full size, the sudden growth threatening to pry the scales off while at the same time leeching off nutrients. "You will not threaten an instructor with violence and death without expecting some sort of retribution."

He removed his hand and let the plant die, its matter disappearing completely. With a fixing of his collar he said sternly, "I read your file before I went here and I figured something like this would happen. I assure you, I have been through enough to know that I am resistant to manipulation. You will have to try harder - and it is always harder to manipulate the aware."

As more scales grew, Aris nodded gravely at their implications. "Your scales appear to be related to your mental and emotional state. Another reason why you should be patient."
 

Clockwise Dream

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Distraction. He needed a distraction, something to pull him away from his own troubled thoughts and emotions, because he was about to turn into a snake otherwise, right here, right now, and this time, the panicked stream of thoughts No, no, no, no, anything but that didn't seem to be enough to stop the desperate need to just change shape and be done with it. Thankfully, a sunflower suddenly taking root somewhere that was almost his head proved to be strong enough of a distraction, allowing his mind to slowly calm down at first, and then also to push away the rest of the panicked thoughts somewhere they could not affect the shape of the rest of him just yet so it could calmly deal with the fact that there was a fucking plant taking root into his skin.

It disappeared soon enough, thankfully, before he could start panicking all over again for a completely different reason this time, because he really doubted he could have thought of a single thing to do about it otherwise. Then, finally, the words and actions of his ''instructor'' reached his previously too occupied brain, and through still heavy breaths, he answered: ''I will do whatever I bloody please to do'', his words defiant more out of habit and share spite than actually anger he still felt, considering that the overwhelming panic he had just felt took good enough job of getting rid of that for him. He felt tired now, not a trace of anything else in him, and it could clearly be seen from his voice as he slowly formed his words.

''And I don't wanna be patient, teach'', he said, throwing his head back, and closing his eyes, before, slowly breathing out and returning to a more normal position, ''I just wanna get rid of these and go on as I went on before Things might not have been perfect even before this, but at least then he could hide that he had no fucking clue how to control his powers. It wasn't like he needed them, not really. And yes, the whole reason for coming to the Island had initially been to learn more about them, if nothing else than so he didn't put somebody into infirmary again. That didn't seem to be a problem any more though, he had been kissing Hari for how long now with no sign of fainting from the other man, and it was not like he needed to kiss anyone else and as far as his other powers went, well he really didn't want to even think about them, not beyond getting rid of the scales at least.

Sighing, he suddenly he reached for one of the chairs nearby, slumping into one of them so that he could lean his head against the top backrest, thinking bitterly about when, exactly did his life got so complicated.

''I just want it to be over'', he complained almost to himself, the thickness of his power refusing to fade away as he had suspected it would do. Is that too much to ask?'', he was being dramatic, he knew, but at his point, he just didn't care.
 

Der Lampman

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"No." Aris took his hand away and let off a friendly smile, now that Sebastian was being slightly more cooperative. Even if he still seemed prone to lashing out, at least he was a little more receptive nnow. That part was umportant, especially with his cursory diagnosis. "It isn't too much to ask. What is too much to ask is that I remove them now and in a painless way."

Aris gestured to one of the many empty seats and returned to his desk in contemplation. Everything he'd seen so far linked this boy's problems to his state of mind - though he was not a hundred percent sure of this. For now, he needed to secure two things from Sebastian: cooperation and information.

Snapping his fingers, Aris let two small patches of lavender grow by the corners of the room. Their subdued and mild aroma wafted through the air in an attempt to clear the young man's thoughts some more.

"I have some preliminary ideas regarding your scales," he began, rocking his chair back into a more comfortable position. "They seem influenced by your mental state, and they seem to be controllable. Those are the only two details I have as of now, and sadly for both of us I cannot perform any sort of reparation with only those details. I understand you would prefer to be done with this, but it is not possible to formulate a plan of action with so little information."
 

Clockwise Dream

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Looking at it now, with the mind and eyes calmed by having gone through utter panic again, he supposed it was bit too rash and arrogant, acting the way he did, demanding as if it was his birthright or something. It was also, however, the way he had always acted, especially after coming into his powers, at least before the world went grey as a consequence of that. Which was why the unexpected result of not getting what he had set out to get, confused him, especially the ease with which the teacher had thrown off the Seduction, despite it being in its new and improved mode. Raising his head towards the man sort of curiously, he debated quickly whether or not he should apologize, a debate which the voice of his conscience (which sounded suspiciously like somebody else of late) won.

''I suppose'', he relented with a heavy sigh. ''I...apologize. For the way I acted'', he added, managing to do so with the bare minimum of childish behaviour. As the teacher returned behind his desk, the young man also thought about turning the chair around and sitting in it properly. This time, the other side of him won, and he continued to sit with his chest pressed against the backrest. He suspected today would ask for a lot more maturity from him than that simple apology so he decided to save all of his adult energy for later.

The air suddenly filled with a smell of something light and pleasant, probably coming from a nearby patch of plants which had spontaneously appeared in the corner, and he felt himself relaxing even more, through barely.

''They are now'', he said suddenly as he listened to the other man speaking, ''Controllable'', he explained, a frown slowly appearing on his face and then growing deeper. ''They start growing whenever I get upset, or panic, which... something similar used to happen even before... but I could control it, in a way. Now they just... They appear but refuse to disappear'', Sebastian managed to say somehow, though he was battling with himself through the whole speech.

''I really don't want to talk about it'', he added, in a somewhat quieter voice. ''The last time I did... well, this is a consequence of that talk'', and that one was with somebody I trusted, he thought, but didn't add out loud.
 

Der Lampman

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May 14, 2015
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@"Clockwise Dream"

"I see. Interesting." Aris nodded and took a bite off the vine growing on his arm, trying to keep his hunger at bay. He'd barely had time to do anything more than fix his clothes before the abrupt summons to the school, and the yawn that escaped his mouth went unstifled. "You'll have to... excuse my yawning. I was supposed to be asleep for at least three more hours."

That proved his theory at least slightly accurate. The scales were influenced, in part or in whole, by his mental state. Perhaps they were from some sort of internal unease. A similar thing happened to him before, when he still was not used to the idea that he had to protect his city with the power of plants. Because who ever would think of "plants" as their first answer to regular dragon attacks?

"Have you not considered the possibility of these scales being just another manifestation of your power?" Aris asked, knowing full well that Sebastian had considered that, and was more likely than not well aware that it was in fact the case. What he was thinking was more of a follow-up to that pointless question, however. "I think you are nowhere near daft enough to not be considering that, and I think you know that already. What I am more concerned with is whether you understood the implications of that."

Aris began to monologue, not caring whether or not Sebastian would listen. In his head, he reasoned out that this would be a lesson in patience either way. "What I am thinking is that since these scales are simply a side-effect of your normal powers and abilities... with enough time and most especially patience you will be capable of commanding them. Where I was from, we have these... visitors - they, wherever they go, bring plague and mutation. My abilities are a product of these mutations, as well as plenty of people I knew - everyone affected by these plagues gain some sort of power, though often at a cost. I have met people who have been saddled with worse things than you, and as a matter of fact, my own brother lost all his immense magical powers to these mutations. And yet, he has managed to gain pyrokinesis and power over decay, among other things. Though I do not agree with his methods..."

His voice grew soft with his last sentence, and he bitterly bit his lip at the thought. Then he resumed, though a bit hesitantly, "It may seem an irrelevant anecdote to you, but what I want you to take away from this is that your abilities are just that - your abilities. They will obey your commands, if you know how to command them."