Hesitance

It was Félix's first day in a power control class. It immediately proved to be the most difficult, simply for its psychological strain. He walked into the large gym-like chamber in a normally unusual set of t-shirt and shorts, expecting to be running laps or something else like it was PE. He wasn't entirely wrong, as the teacher expected him to break a sweat in managing and maintaining what made him unique among his peers.

The most difficult part of the class was that Félix had to use his powers. He nearly threw a stink when the first tendril formed over his hand, extending from his forearm. Félix noticed the dummies lined up neatly, with enough space for everyone to take one on for themselves. It was no mystery as to what they'd be for.

Why a dummy? Instead of attacking the dummy outright, Félix focused on trying to control more than one tentacle. While some of the students around him took the opportunity to fight and hone their combat skills, Félix essentially meditated and tried to keep himself calm under duress.

When one of the supervisors approached Félix, he'd just throw a half-hearted swing of his tendril at the dummy. Enough to make the glorified scarecrow move, but little else.

Félix never noticed the girl. In retrospect, she should have stuck out like a sore thumb because she wore her 'regular' clothes rather than change into something more suitable for strenuous work. Still, no one seemed to care when she could manage all her tasks flawlessly. As for Félix, he was too concentrated in worrying about himself and what was going on in his mind that he only barely registered Konishi's voice speaking to him.

It took him a few seconds to realize that her words were whispered, and since they were whispered it meant he was the likely recipient. He turned around too look at the girl. She was short, and dressed to the nines like she was supposed to be in the ballroom rather than the power practice chamber.

“Demonstration of what?” Félix raised an eyebrow. What did this lady want to show, exactly? Félix's two tendrils retracted from the dummy, but otherwise he stood still and uncertain. Well, if she wasn't going to say, he could at least be courteous enough to let her 'show him how it's done'.

“Very well. Be my guess, Miss.” Félix barely smiled before he stepped out of her way.

He suspected the girl was going to do something vicious to the dummy. Obviously he knew what they were for, but he thought it not only barbaric to begin with, but entirely inefficient to go all out on a doll.

He watched her produce those long weapons straight from her fingertips. It was shockingly quick, and the next thing he registered was the dummy now cut into several fine pieces tumbling to the floor. His tentacles didn't have half the lethality of her nails. All of a sudden, the young lady in a frilly dress was threatening.

Félix did not express shock, however. Anyone could destroy a dummy, as impressive as her effort was. He crossed his arms, tendrils still hovering in the air, and nodded his head to one side to acknowledge her work. “Yeah, but now I'm short a dummy.”

“I'm not some killer. I won't waste my time trying to destroy these things.” Félix did not like her pompous attitude. Her lacy and delicate dress didn't suit the attitude of a hard and belligerent girl.

There was just something about her voice that didn't resonate with her attitude and words. Félix was not trained in listening to those sorts of cues, but he had the instincts to tell when it seemed off. Also, Félix was suspicious about her not playing violent video games. She seemed competitive. She either did play them, a lot, and beat many boys, or she was completely lying for some purpose. Either way, Félix actually found it alarmingly endearing. Was she trying to impress him, or did he just find her cute?

The next thing he knew, Konishi managed to prop up yet another dummy. Félix didn't dare ask how many she had already gone through. “My name is Félix.” Konishi extended her hand, but Félix's were already preoccupied with being inside tentacles. He raised one arm and slowly tried to retract the black mass. After a few seconds it dissipated, and he tentatively reached for Konishi's fingers.

She had her hand facing down. Félix half-suspected she was expecting something a little more... old-fashioned. He thought it a harmless gesture, befitting of her very effeminate behaviour. Félix scooped her hand in his and knelt down slightly, just enough not to strain himself when he left a kiss on the back of her hand.

“My powers aren't... straightforward.” He was a long ways away from telling her about being some possessed avatar of long-forgotten gods or however the hell is grandfather explained it. Félix frowned a little, “Frankly, I'd rather not mention them at all.” His other tentacle now started to recede. He did have to practice though, but he still wasn't convinced of Konishi's philosophy.

“I don't think going all out is good control for me. What if it makes me more violent every time I use my powers?”

Konishi likely didn't find the reaction she expected from Félix. She sorely underestimated his intelligence, though it wasn't like she had the opportunity to thoroughly examine him. From Félix's perspective, Konishi was trying too hard to convince him of something. Her logic wasn't sound, but at the same time Félix oddly appreciated her effort.

He didn't say anything about it though. Félix didn't really want to argue with the girl, not when she had extraordinary sharp knives at the tip of her fingers and an apparent mastery over their use. He began to extend those black monstrosities from his left hand, this time making two of them along the same arm. He showed Konishi that he could produce his own weapons from anywhere he wanted.

“Not until I was sixteen,” Félix frowned. To him, it was the biggest mistake of his life. He had tempted fate, and fate killed his youngest brother. Every time he summoned one of those black limbs, he would remember what happened to Michel Tenebre.

Konishi could use her powers since she was six. He wasn't surprised, but he could hardly believe that a six year old would have so much responsibility and control over her power that she never felt tragedy. He watched her lace along her body, and realized it was her skin after all. Admittedly, it was rather pretty to witness.

She did have a point though. Not about driving cars, but about what this class was about. “Alright. I'll show you how much control I have over this.” He turned to face the dummy, and produced two more tentacles from his right hand. Control was a strange thing for him. It wasn't a matter of his tendrils suddenly flailing when he didn't want them to. Either he was in complete control, or no control at all. It depended on what the darkness in his mind so desired.

He lashed the four tendrils towards the dummy, each one of them coiling around a limb on the stuffed doll. As they gripped and tightened, Félix waited a second before forcing each tentacle away from the dummy. All four of its limbs were cleanly torn from its body.

However, Félix engaged it with so much force that the black limbs threw back too hard and too quickly. His human arms jolted back, and his body followed. Félix ended up throwing the limbs nearly across the gym, and his body wobbled back until he fell down on his butt.

“I overestimated that...” Félix quickly stood back up, blushing from embarrassment in front of Konishi.