Lesson Not Learned

[Honor Sayers]

It felt weird, having a regular trainee who didn't run the opposite direction whenever it was time for training. Then again, Honor actually enjoyed tormenting Jonah because he gave as much as she did.

It was sort of refreshing being able to do what she did best without being subjected to whining. And Jonah's power excited her immensely. She had never had a telepath who complemented her power this well. She supposed she could try and destroy Sean Neville but at his age, it was hardly going to be a challenge.

Sliding her walking cane against the wall, she made her way over to the designated training room and rapped the end of her stick on the door before stepping in. "You better be here King." Honor said out loud just as she sent it straight to Jonah's mind.

[Jonah King]

If there was one thing Honor hated, it was any of her pupils being late – Jonah had made that mistake once, and it was not something he intended to repeat. So he made sure that he got to their appointed training room at least five minutes early for their training session, and was gratified to see that she hadn’t yet arrived.

He put his bag and coat down in a corner and waited for her to arrive, watching the door with none of the apprehension people usually felt when they were going to spend an hour with Hammel’s least popular power trainer. Jonah genuinely looked forward to the hours he spent with Honor. She constantly challenged him, and was brave enough to encourage him to really use his ability – Jonah had never had a trainer as unafraid of him as she was.

I’m here, he replied to Honor’s statement as she stood in the doorway, offering her a smile even though he knew she couldn’t see it. Jonah didn’t talk into people’s minds very often in the way he wad doing now, but Honor had demanded that he use this method of communication with her – it was all an exercise in controlling his ability.

How have you been? Jonah had been raised polite enough to attempt small-talk. He kept his eyes on Honor, though – there was no telling when she would suddenly attempt to test him by using her power on him.

[Honor Sayers]

Quietly pleased at Jonah's presence, Honor simply nodded and walked into the room, folding her cane and taking her glasses off. She beckoned for Jonah to come close and held back the sneer at his attempt at idle chit-chat.

But she entertained him by responding. "I'm well." She nodded in his direction. "I trust you have as well." Her voice deliberately soft and gentle as she gauged Jonah's distance. "Have you been practicing your shields?"

[Jonah King]

She wanted him to come closer, and Jonah took a few steps in Honor’s direction. Under other circumstances he would have kept his distance, but what was the point in coming for a training session if you didn’t let your teacher do anything? Soon he was standing in front of her, ready to take action if she tried to attack.

Yes, he confirmed – he was practising his shields all the time, and he had come on by leaps and bounds in the last few months. My control is a lot better, now.

He didn’t bother asking her when the lesson was going to begin – Honor obeyed her own timetable, and it wasn’t one that anyone else could begin to guess at. She would want to surprise him, after all. That was why Jonah liked these sessions so much – he never knew what was going to happen.

[Honor Sayers]

Nodding with a small smile, Honor took her hand out so Jonah could take it. "Don't get cocky, King." She smirked at his response as she waited for him to grab her hand.

"I'm going to be working on those shields today." She said but left everything else off the table. As much as Jonah liked the spontaneity of the sessions, Honor liked to surprise even herself as she exercised her own powers with him.

The periods of time in which she was able to hold the connection with people had surprisingly extended with Jonah's help and Honor appreciated it. He was proving to be quite useful to her, really.

Without warning, she reached out even further to latch on to Jonah's arm and concentrated on their connection. "You're going to lower your shields for me, Jonah. I'm a friend. I won't hurt you. All you have to do is lower your shields."

[Jonah King]

Jonah almost replied that he was hardly likely to become over-confident with Honor around – but there was no point in wasting brain power on saying things to the woman who was probably about to try and attack him. So he did a quick double-check of his mental walls before reaching out and taking her hand.

It was almost a relief – as a meta human whose gift came under the category of ‘mental ability’, Honor had good mental barriers of her own. Jonah hardly heard her thoughts at all, and it made him concentrate all the more: if he didn’t read her lips, he had no other way of knowing what she was trying to tell him.

Then her hand was on his arm, and he could feel her trying to find a weak point in his shields. Honor wasn’t even trying to break through – just impose her will on him, to press against his mind and use a kind of osmosis. Jonah struggled, regrouping and forcing her out – it was getting more difficult every time, but he couldn’t help a small smile coming to his lips. They probably made a strange sight, staring at one another in complete silence. No,[/i] he replied, pressing back as she tried to sink in. He didn’t even really know what she had said – he was having trouble concentrating enough to lip-read her – but he knew what she was trying to do. I’m not going to let you in.[/i]

[Honor Sayers]

Jonah's mental blocks were getting more powerful with every session and it was taking a toll on the blonde hypnotist. Of course, she wasn't about to let that get aired out and it was a good thing she had such a good poker face.

The migraines she had been having were probably not caused by Jonah wholly but it was definitely one of the bigger causes. She didn't blame him, surprisingly. It just meant he was getting stronger. Oddly, all she felt was pride for him.

As Jonah fought against her, Honor could feel her barriers slowly crumbling away. It was going to take her at least a weekend just to recuperate. Management better pay her for it.

She held on a little longer, trying to push down his barriers once more, ignoring the sharp pain at the back of her head.

"Come on, Jonah...you know you can trust me. Just a little bit, dear." She kept her voice soothing and her touch gentle. Her mind was clear of thought except to penetrate through his defenses.

[Jonah King]

The easy counter to all of this, of course, would have been to wrench his arm out of Honor’s grip – but Jonah knew better than to try that. There would be no gain for him other than a thwack over the head with that cane of hers, and he would lose out on the chance to learn more from her.

For a sickening moment, it felt as if she would get through. Jonah felt his stomach churn, and he made a small, involuntary noise of protest as Honor attempted to needle her way through. But he threw up another barrier with everything he could behind it, the mental equivalent of attempting to push her away with the palm of his hand. Get out! he said forcefully, hoping that the action would be enough to force her out of his mind.

Honor was the only person who had ever let him practise more offensive moves – everyone else at Hammel relied on defence. Jonah didn’t know what that said about her, but he always appreciated it. She didn’t fear telepathy enough to fear him.

[Honor Sayers]

Were Honor a telepath, she would have smirked at Jonah's thoughts, thwacked him on the head with her cane and reassure him that his assumptions were quite accurate. But as much as Jonah didn't want to lose her as his trainer, Honor didn't want to lose Jonah as a student. She saw far too much potential in the young man to give up on him.

She could literally feel the push Jonah was sending against her hypnosis and as she fought harder, she realised that the boy was actually effectively pushing her out. Little by little she had to let go of the mental connection she had with the young telepath, breathing heavily at the sudden weight on her head. She staggered backwards a little and smiled widely. "You can do better." She nodded as she let her hand drop to her side.

Using one foot to find the bench behind her, Honor slowly found her way down on the seat, trying to control the throbbing in her head. "Have you used your abilities on anyone yet? Sent your thoughts to another person perhaps?"

[Jonah King]

Jonah’s smile matched Honor’s. ‘I know,’ he replied matter-of-factly. He could do better, but he could also do a lot worse – nowadays Jonah could actually be proud of himself and his control, something he had never felt before. He paused for a moment to catch his breath as Honor sat down, wincing at the considerable effort it took for him to unclench the muscles in his shoulders.

Her question took Jonah completely by surprise – he froze, regarding her with a confused gaze. One eyebrow was quizzically raised (he knew that Honor couldn’t see his facial expressions, but old habits die hard), and Jonah took a second to try and work out if she meant what he thought she meant. ‘I talk to people, like I talk to you,’ he told her, having switched to verbal speech for her comfort. Honor hadn’t said anything, but Jonah could sense her headache – he didn’t want to aggravate it any further by speaking into her mind.

‘Do you mean, images? Sending images? Or putting thoughts into someone’s head on purpose?’ It wasn’t something Jonah had ever considered before, and the idea that Honor could be suggesting it filled him with an emotion he couldn’t identify. Pushing a thought into someone’s head…in theory it could be done, but he would never want to do something like that.

[Honor Sayers]

Honor chuckled soundlessly at Jonah's tone of voice. "I don't see why you didn't then." She reprimanded, almost endearingly. It was a weird feeling, one that she knew was going to be her undoing later but for now, it was just that niggling feeling one had in the back of one's head. Harmless.

Sighing at the change in Jonah's tone of voice, Honor groped on the bench for her cane, unfurling it down to the ground. She got up against the screaming rage of a headache and smacked Jonah's ankle with her walking stick. "Don't tell me you've never tried before. You do realise if you don't master that aspect of your power, you won't be able to control it at all?" Honor raked her fingers through her hair in a show of irritation.

"Look at it this way. It would be less of a headache and a hassle if you learn how to project your thoughts now than to be embarrassed later when your wife learns that you're thinking of another woman while having sex with her."

[Jonah King]

Jonah didn’t know whether to blush furiously or splutter with laughter at Honor’s final statement. In the end he did both, grateful for once that she couldn’t see the embarrassed expression on his face. ‘I’ve never had a problem with projection,’ he pointed out. It was something he was intensely grateful for. It was difficult being unable to control receiving, sure, but it would be ten times worse if he couldn’t stop people from hearing his own thoughts.

Still, Honor had a point. Projecting was subtle, because you had to have such tight control on what you were showing – it was no good trying to send someone an image of one thing, and letting something else slip past as well.

‘What do you want me to try?’ he asked, ready to be guided by her in this one. In the early days of his training, Jonah had been encouraged to attempt sending images to people, but it had been a while since he’d done anything like that – and teachers were usually too busy trying to keep his ‘hearing’ under control to try that for long.

[Honor Sayers]

Jonah's laughter didn't rouse any reaction from Honor but his response did. "Just because you don't have a problem with it, doesn't mean you can't be better at it."

His acquiescence had her smirking a little and she nodded. "Alright. I want you to think of something intimate that you've shared with someone and at the same time, try sending me an image of what you're looking at right now. Make a mental image of what you're seeing now and send it to me while keeping that intimate moment to yourself." Honor instructed.

She wasn't entirely sure if her instructions were clear or if it made any sense to the young man. She wasn't even sure if he would be able to do it. But if he could, she would be very impressed. And it could mean that he was ready to graduate.

[Jonah King]

It was difficult to remember that he needed to provide a verbal acknowledgement when he understood what Honor was saying to him. ‘OK,’ Jonah agreed – a little reluctantly, it had to be said.

He was looking at the bag he had left lying on the floor in the corner of the room. It was khaki, satchel-shaped, and considerably worn around the edges. Jonah took some deep breath, focussing on the bag – and then he thought of Mia. He thought of reading her lips the time she’d said ‘want to kiss you, now.’

His control was within his grasp – it slipped before he had even time to reach for Honor’s mind. His change in breathing would have been her indication that he had failed, and he tried again. Looked at the bag, thought of Mia, and gently pushed the image of what he was seeing into Honor’s mind. Even before she reacted, he knew he’d failed – his emotions had gone through, as well as the image. ‘Sorry,’ he said, scowling at the bag on the floor. ‘Can I try again?’

[Honor Sayers]

Honor actually felt the struggle Jonah was in as he tried to send two differing images to her. Maybe she was being a little too hard on the telepath but warring against that thought was the fact that she knew Jonah had the potential to go even further. She didn't want him to give up just because he thought it was too hard.

His apology was met with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Maybe you're a little tired. We've been at this for awhile." Her voice took on a foreign tone that she was pretty sure was...sympathy. She frowned slightly as her hold tightened around her cane.

"Catch a break. We'll pick this up in a few more minutes."