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 Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 1:02 pm
If this was someone else, Jove might had earned an 'awww'; however, Malcolm was seemingly immune from having worked with... Well, 'adorable' creatures his entire life. All the boil would get from the professor was a shake of his head indicating that no, he was not going to try rereading it; why do that when the problem clearly did not lay in his reading?
He sort of... Saw it coming before he actually really saw it, and looked away from Jove as he started to shift; while Malcolm was pretty sure that most ghosts tended to materialize with clothing on, he figured there were exceptions... And the boil did leave his clothing on the floor when he shifted into his natural form.
Perhaps a lack of experience? Changing forms does seem to take energy; materializing clothes might be something difficult to do. He might not be the best advocate for clothing (seeing how minimally he was dressed at times) but he understood decency at least.
Turning back to look at Jove, he gestured at the paper again, turning it around so that he would have a blank page to write on, "Let's try again, shall we?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:01 pm
Jove was relieved to glance over and see the professor wasn't watching, so he could finish dressing in peace. He tugged his sweater over his head, wrapped his scarf around his neck, and tried to hide his blush in it as he sat down again. It didn't work very well, his blush was too bright, and the scarf would not naturally cover that much of his face.
He practically sank in relief when the professor failed to mention his form-shifting limitation, and the dark bruises that stood out on his ribs and stomach. He would have been mortified.
Instead Malcom's focus was on the page in front of them, now turned over so he could make a second attempt. And this time Jove's writing was legible, slightly blocky like the writing of a child, but showing the beginnings of a fine hand. He listed Tybalt as his role model, because he was bigger, stronger, and more intimidating. They were qualities that were more respected in a place where things had to be frightening, and Jove had managed to identify them as precisely the qualities he lacked. In a school where "Human Pet" was among the worst of insults, being small and fluffy was hardly FEAR inspiring.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 8:17 pm
Malcolm read Jove's words as they were written; while he had no idea who 'Tybalt' was, he quickly assumed that he might be another student of a canine nature, judging from what the boil listed as 'desirable qualities' to have... Then again, he could easily be describing any bigger, stronger and more intimidating student out there; many of the third years, for example, had managed to grow so much in FEAR that the freshmen tend to avoid them when walking down the hall.
"I see... Yes, I can see why you might desire those qualities," He nodded, looking thoughtful as he stroked his chin, "Let's start with the easiest to achieve - bigger." He paused, taking the piece of paper from Jove and placing it in his desk drawer before speaking again, "While a student's true form can grow with his FEAR, I doubt you're willing to wait for third year for that to happen naturally."
Another pause followed, "Which means you'll have to focus whatever FEAR you have right now into making yourself bigger every time you transform. Think of it as... Hm, channeling your FEAR. It also means that you need to lift the limitations on your form-shifting, since your focus right now is just on shifting.... I need you to be so comfortable with shifting that you can materialize your clothes on from one form to another." If Jove was relieved that Malcolm didn't mention it before, the professor was actually saving it.
"By our next meeting, I need you to have achieve that already," He smiled, "Shift in forms comfortably! Once you are able to do that, we can work on helping you direct your focus and your FEAR into making yourself look larger without the need to... Ruffle up your fur." Yes, he had noticed that too.
"If there are no questions, I'll see you again on Moonday?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:00 pm
Jove nodded, his blush getting worse momentarily. Oh yes, he did want to learn how to shift into clothes... It was always embarrassing to have to run back to his room before he changed, or arrange it so he was somewhere where clothes of some sort were readily available. Lifting limitations sounded like a very good thing.
His little brows furrowed as the professor gave him the time deadline. He only had that long? But he didn't even know where to start! When he learned his human form, he needed help at first. That was probably why he was so small, his second form must have been influenced by his caretaker's view while helping him learn it. The human body had been so foreign to him, the posture felt wrong and his balance was unstable, but the pup hadn't thought to stretch his 'changing' muscles farther than the form his caretaker wanted for him.
Well, now he would have to do just that. He put on his most determined face, nodded, and dashed out of the room to get a head start on his practising.
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:31 pm
The weekends had come and gone, and it was soon Moonday - Malcolm was already in his office, doing some paperwork; tedious, but it had to be done... All part of the job, after all. Besides, he hadn't specified for a time for Jove to drop by; he figured that the boil would come whenever he was ready, as long as it was before his office was closed for the day. Paperwork was a boring, but good, use of time while he waited for his student to arrive.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:47 pm
When a knock came at the professor's door, it was accompanied by a very small student with a very big frown. Clearly things did not bode well for the pup's prior task. There was no proud tail wag or chest-puffing, just an expression of doubt and disappointment, and Jove was dreading being asked about his progress.
To put it bluntly, there wasn't much.
The pup almost seemed to sulk as he entered and sat down in the chair opposite the professor's desk, but he politely waited until Malcom was finished what he was already doing. Not that he would have said much anyway.
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:26 am
He noticed the boil the moment he entered his office, but didn't look up till he was done with the paper he was currently working on; he didn't like to leave things half-completed, after all. Gathering up the papers, he stacked them together before pushing them to the side of the table, putting a paperweight on top. Once that was done, he finally regarded Jove with a nod, studying his expression and body language; it would not take a genius to know that the boil was clearly feeling down.
"I assume the practicing did not go well?" He frowned, stroking his chin thoughtfully before taking out a piece of blank paper from his desk drawer; Jove didn't seem comfortable talking, so communicating using writing would have to do for now. He placed the blank paper together with a pen in front of Jove, gesturing to it, "Why don't you tell me the challenges you faced? And if you think you did anything good, jolt it down too."
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:47 am
Jove leaned over the desk and picked up the pen, but didn't immediately write anything. He just stared at it with a grumpy, increasingly perplexed expression. How was he supposed to describe the state of his 'homework'? Even though he was becoming quite proficient in written communication, his vocabulary was limited by his being nothing more than a smart puppy about a year ago. And this... How to put it...
With a scowl he pushed the page away, stood up, and shut the door in a huff. A picture was worth a thousand words, or something like that, right? He disappeared behind the desk as he changed into his small, fluffy natural form, and not a second later he was back on his feet. With no clothes.
It wouldn't be hard to see what had stumped him, everything from his ribs down to his mid-thighs only barely held it's shape. Tendrils of ectoplasmic mist curled off his vaguely formed body, the pale blue swirling into the dark colours of bruised tissue along his left side. It was almost like it didn't know what shape it should be holding. With more scowling he tried to pull his clothing back on, to no success until he 'snapped' back into his more solid humanoid form.
See, how in Jack's name was he supposed to describe that?
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:21 am
It was hard not to just look away from Jove the moment he started to take on his more humanoid form, especially when he realized that the boil was still very much unclothed, having not master that yet. However, knowing that Jove must have done that because it was important, he kept his eyes on the boil, poker faced for the time being.
Luckily, he didn't have to look too long; the problem was pretty obvious... In fact, he couldn't help but feel like he should have started off the lesson with something less complicated.
Once Jove was back in his clothes, Malcolm stood up wordlessly, walking past the boil and to his closed office door. He paused briefly, as if thinking about something, before whistling for Vlad, who had actually been sleeping under the desk all this time, "Look after the place while I'm gone, alright?" A bark indicated that Vlad understood what was expected of him, earning a small smile from the professor as he turned to address Jove.
"Let's make a trip down to the library," He opened the door, holding it for the boil as he gestured at the corridor.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 7:48 am
The little pup wouldn't have noticed any expression at all on his professor's face, he couldn't bear to meet the teacher's eyes. It wasn't that his misty, unformed state was that indecent, it was the disappointment and shame of having not been able to successfully materialize clothing by the end of the week. Surely the professor wouldn't have given him the assignment if he didn't think Jove could do it...
The silence as professor Malcom stood and approached the door wore at the little pup's nerves, and his ears flopped down in a very guilty, ashamed manner. No, silence wasn't good... But when the professor finally spoke, there was no harshness or disappointment there. No, it sounded almost like he was smiling.
Jove hesitantly peeked up as he slipped past, and his ears perked ever so slightly. A trip to the library didn't sound so bad...
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:17 am
"I think that it would be easier to start from the basics and work your way up," He explained as they walked down the corridor, Malcolm leading the way as he tilted his head down to look at Jove, "A strong foundation is important - once you get your foundation down, you will find performing more complex tasks a lot easier... I'll need you to master two basic things before we work on your natural form."
He paused briefly as they neared the library, looking around before spotting the section he was after.
"First, we need to get you to materialize with at least one solid piece of clothing," He continued, moving down the shelves of books, stopping only at the section marked 'anatomy'. He ran a finger along the spines of the books until he found one marked 'Building a Body'. He held it out to Jove, "Second, we need to get you familiarized with anatomy... Well, reaper anatomy, seeing how they're the least complicated... Once you get the feel of molding your ectoplasma in your humanoid form, you should be able to do it in your natural form as well."
Step by step this time though.
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 11:28 am
Jove relaxed a little. So maybe his first task really had been a bit too much to start out with. That was a relief. He followed Professor Malcom in silence, all the way to the library. One ear swivelled back to continue listening as the professor began looking at shelves, but the pup had another idea.
The botanical guides were pretty close... maybe he could find another good mushroom referen- Reapers? No way!
Jove whirled around with ears pressed flat against the back of his head, just in time to be handed a book. He took it without looking. There was no way he wanted to study reaper anatomy, those guys were scheming, dangerous, scary- The moment that thought struck him, Jove started to understand the professor's wisdom. Yes, Reapers could be very scary. All the better to learn from!
Ears perked back up, and tilted further forward as he inspected the book. It looked like something for mad scientists. There might have even been what looked like grungy prints from mismatched hands on the cover, left from it's last reader. Mad scientists were inherently trustworthy types though, right? If the book worked for them, it would probably work for him too.
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Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:13 am
Dragain Reapers were also apparently wise, following Jove's train of thought, seeing how Malcolm was one. "Try to make sense of how the muscle wraps around the bone to get a feel of the shape of the muscles on a body," He nodded, gesturing at the book, "Once you are more familiar with anatomy, you should keep that in mind when you shift and try to 'mold' your ectoplasm into the shape in your mind - like most things, it should get easier with practice... Once you are used to shifting into a humanoid form, try to materialize into it with your pants on." For modesty's sake. "You are free to drop by my office anytime," He smiled, leaning against the bookshelf, "I have confidence that you will be able to master that by the end of next week, at the very most, and we can use the remaining time to work on your natural form... This is good practice for when you need to control your FEAR and ectoplasm to make your natural form look bigger." Grey Dragon Jove cracked open the book and began looking at some delicately inked diagrams of the reaper arm as the professor talked. His head tilted. Then he flipped a couple pages to look at a picture of the ligaments of the hand, and how they connected to the bones underneath. The little pup wiggled his own fingers, watching the tendons shift under his skin. It was almost like a revelation, he never really saw his humanoid form in that light. He had a bit of magical help to form it in the first place, and since then he had taken it for granted. The ghost glanced up at the professor with a confused look. What was he supposed to be trying to shift into? And how would learning about muscles and bones help him learn to materialize pants? His expression turned doubtful, after the results of his first week of practice he didn't exactly share Malcom's confidence in his abilities. Dragain "Ah, right. Specifics." He muttered, more to himself than to the boil as he noticed his student's expression; he was one to teach students how to swim by tossing them into the water, but perhaps that wouldn't work for everyone. Pausing briefly, he took some time to eye Jove, trying to determine his age (it was difficult to tell with ghosts) before concluding that he looked to be around 14 or 15... Then again, he wouldn't be shocked if Jove was actually younger than that; 14 to 15 was just the youngest he had seen students being enrolled. Taking the book from Jove, he quickly scanned the contents page before flipping to a page near the middle of the book, "Try following this..." He held the open page to Jove; there was a diagram of a 15 year old male body, showing what bodies of boils that age typically look like, including statistics like average height and weight. While not all of the information was useful, most of it was, in some way. "From what I know about ghosts, ectoplasm has properties that is like a semi solid, semi liquid. Thus, you act as the 'mold' that allows it to take shape," He explained, "The more you know about the shape you wish to take, the more accurate your 'mold' would be... And the easier it will be to get it right... Besides, you are learning how to control your ectoplasm now, so when we get to your natural form, it should make it easier to control the shape - and size - it takes..." Grey Dragon The pup brightened as the logic struck him. So practicing anatomy was really for practising his anatomic 'mold', and getting a better feel for changing it willingly. He had two rigid molds, the first being his woefully small natural form, and the second was the child form he had been using at school, but what he really needed was a mold that was flexible, and could change as he wanted it to. Suddenly he realized that if he could learn to change his mold, and learn general anatomy, he could change into anything! Jove might have been a long way off from that lofty goal, but it gave him more than enough enthusiasm for the task. His tail curled up and wagged as he contemplated the diagrams and descriptions. Then he glanced up at the professor as if asking "Are we done? Can I go practice now? Please?" Dragain While it took a while for Malcolm to process that Jove was asking for permission to leave, he nodded, giving his okay, once he figured that out; it was nice to see how eager the boil was to start his task, "Just remember to check the book out before leaving the library." He reminded; it had almost slipped his mind too, since that was the last thing he was thinking about at the moment, "I'll see you during our next meeting then."
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