Playing With Fire (Sam Rixon)

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam generally had a lack of understanding about most things. Simple concepts in math, government structure in History, all of it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. The only reason he was even passing most of his classes was due to his girlfriend tutoring him. He was eager to do anything with fireworks, though, because really. Who didn’t like fireworks? This was going to be a million times more fun than pinecones.

“.... How much bigger?” Much like a child bartering with a parent at dinner over how many vegetables were acceptable to receive dessert, Sam needed to know if it was worth his effort. He wasn’t so sure the stupid things were, but maybe Vincent would be cool and surprise him. To that end, he sucked it up and pulled out a small handful of the things and dropped them on the floor by his feet.

As he waited for the fireworks, he concentrated on trying to focus the heat in his hands to just incinerate the pinecone. Naturally, just like the others it too lit up and popped before he dropped it. Over and over again, he just couldn’t get the hang of it.

It wasn’t until the second to last in his pile came around that he really focused. It was hard for him to narrow his focus so much, but he managed to turn the heat off just before the thing burned his hands further. He couldn’t remember his hands ever being this blistered and raw from training, but they sure as hell were now. Maybe Vincent would take pity on him now that he’d actually tried.

In triumph, he held out his charred pinecone. “Didn’t burn myself! ... More.” He rolled it to one side to show off his blistered hand. “Fireworks now?”

[Vincent Meian]

The slight smirk on the teacher's face became a bit more pronounced, and he shook his head. Children, really. But he supposed it would seem exciting for a teacher to allowing the use of explosives in training. "We will see," he replied. "However, I do promise they will be worthwhile."

When he returned with a small bag of children's fireworks (he wouldn't dare have anything larger in his office; recipe for disaster), a scorched pinecone had been thrust in his face immediately after the smell of burnt wood made it's way across the room. Picking up the black and grey-white mass of flaking seed carefully, Vincent turned over the cooling object in his hand and nodded. "You have done well," he praised, handing it back. "We will move on, then."

Placing the bag on one of the desks, the tall man removed a number of small fireworks; ground flowers, bottle rockets, fire frogs, sparklers... children's toys, mostly, but they were safe enough and easy to put out. He kept the majority in the bag, but laid out three or four of each in front of Sam with a half smile.

"I will let you pick the next exercise we train in," he stated. "If you do well, we will take the remainder outside and light them all."

Because giving the boy something to look forward to was probably enough to keep him going. After the training, however, he would definitely need to see Dr. Nik.

[Samuel Rixon]

Any teacher that allowed fireworks during training was rather epic in Sam’s books. He’d never been allowed those. It was more ‘light the block again’ or ‘stop setting fire to your classmates’. Nothing fun like fireworks. Not that he didn’t have experience with them. He and his best friend had launched far too many to count. “They better be,” he said with a grin, practically bouncing in place.

Once he got the pinecone back, and the praise, Sam just about lit up. It was rare he got praised in training, because his power was so unpredictable at times. And trainers tended to frown upon lighting up the blinds over the windows, or the plant in the corner. Praise was something new, and he liked it.

The selection was something out of a dream, and Sam touched just about every single one of them in excitement. If he had his way, he’d shoot them all off right that second, but he was going to be good and wait. Though they weren’t the most fun, he picked up a sparkler and eyed it before holding it out. “This one.” If he used the boring ones now, he’d have all the fun ones to launch later. “What do I do with it?” Beyond light it up and watch the sparks burn down, of course.

[Vincent Meian]

Praise, in Vincent's opinion, was best given to those that deserved it. To those that followed directions and performed acceptably. Not only had Sam done as he'd asked, but he'd completed the task without giving up or causing himself grievous harm. That was an occasion worth praising, even if to another it might seem minor.

As the pyrokinetic scanned the fireworks with mounting glee, the trainer thought about each one and the reasons for having them. Each firework would have a different piece of training attached to it, and each one a different goal for the session. They still had quite a lot of time, so perhaps they'd get through them all before the lesson was over. Finally, Sam chose the sparkler (a favorite of all Japanese people since the advent of the device), and Vincent nodded.

"First, light it and wait for the sparks to begin," he explained. Once the brunette had done so, the taller man smirked. "Now, try putting it out using only your own ability."

Once again, kind of amusing. And no, not cruel at all.

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam lived off of praise. Not that he got it very often at Hammel due to his general behaviour. At home, being the second youngest of what felt like a hundred siblings, praise had been something that came few and far between. His parents had been so busy with getting everyone organized that by the time they got to Sam they were usually rushing. He’d learned to deal with it, but praise was still nice to get now and again. If this was how training was going to go from now on, he was never skipping it again.

Well, not as often.

Waving the unlit sparkler around with glee, Sam was only half listening to the instructions. Lighting it was no problem. He even managed to do his favorite trick (which he hadn’t done in what felt like forever now) of flicking his fingers together like a lighter. It took two tries, but he got the sparkler to ignite, beaming as he watched it burn.

The next instruction was not what he expected. It took a moment to sink in as he stared at the quickly dwindling stick. “I don’t know how,” he admitted, eyes still watching the sparks fly. “I was never good at it.” His last trainer had tried to have him put out fires too, to no avail. Sam could do it when it was still within his hands, but once something was lit he couldn’t connect back to it well enough to snuff it out.

[Vincent Meian]

The trick was actually very impressive to Vincent, and his expression said as much when he watched Sam perform it. Normally, under-trained pyrokinetics could either make very large flames (which were uncontrolled) or could not start fires willingly at all. The simple trick was something that the young man had obviously practiced consistently for a while. "That is a very useful trick," he mused, watching his student light the sparkler.

"That is fine," the trainer replied, his voice very neutral and not condescending. "This is why we practice - to do things we were not able to perform before." Thinking about various ways his former students had done this, the older man added, "Think about our pinecone experiment - try to prevent the sparkler from burning in the same way you protected your hands. It is only... an extension of will."

He wasn't sure if Sam would understand that (as the boy hadn't taken previous suggestions about control), but it was one wa he could explain. If one trick didn't work, they could try another. There were lots of small fireworks here, and time to play with them. Sam would probably progress further eventually. Even if it wasn't today, there were still going to be good marks on his progress report.

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam had practiced and practiced the false lighter trick for months after he'd first arrived, and started needing it more and more when he had discovered the joys of marijuana. It was handier than remembering a lighter, and it looked pretty spiffy to boot. "It's pretty bitching. I don't get to use it much anymore." He sounded almost sad about it, but he wasn't sliding back down that awful slope again. He'd already broken free from the bad habit once. (Not addiction, it had never been addiction, uh uh, no way, no how.)

Sam was somewhat discouraged by the failure he'd experienced, and knew he would continue to experience. Setting fires was easy. Making them go away wasn't as fun. He screwed up his face in concentration and confusion at the offering. "But my hands are kinda easier. They're... y'know. Part of me. The fireworks aren't." He had no idea how he was going to do this, but he had a feeling that Vincent wouldn't actually give up on him, or give him away to be someone else's problem. Maybe that consistency would help.

"Can I try another one?" He was now eyeing up the more fun fireworks, namely the fire frogs. He pointed to the grouping of them. "What'll we do with those? More putting them out?" His voice showed his reluctance to try it again. Maybe he'd have something different in mind with the frogs.

[Vincent Meian]

Vincent nodded at the admission. "I have read that in your file," he replied, his tone more stating of fact than in any way condescending. "Perhaps once you have obtained finer control, we can test that trick in a kitchen - many restaurants now use gas stoves to cook."

Hey, it was worth a chance. Sam loved food, and it would keep him up-to-date on training even after he left Hammel for good. It certainly couldn't hurt... if he learned to control his powers.

The trainer nodded again, understanding. "It will be difficult, and you will fail at first. But it is a useful skill once you have learned it." With a respectful nod of his head, he added, "I believe you can not only learn, but master this trick with time. Until such time as you do, you will not leave my training." Granted, he meant long-term - not today. Tricks could be learned in a single day; skills could not. Vincent knew that better than anyone.

Waiting until the sparkler burned down, the taller man nodded and tossed Sam one of the cute fireworks. This one would be harder, but very similar to the pinecone experiment. "No - you will not try and stop these," he explained. "We are going to try something similar to the pinecones - I want you to hold this in your hands as it burns, and I want you to try and keep form being burned. Do you think you can do this?"

The repetition with the increased challenge would definitely hammer home the benefit of being able to control fire and be invulnerable to it. Pyrokinetics all had that ability to a degree, but as they had seen, Sam's ability in that area was stunted. They needed to keep practicing it.

[Samuel Rixon]

Sam cocked his head, a lopsided grin on his face. So Vincent wasn’t going to yell at him for being late, or being a former pot smoker. He was officially upgraded to a level of awesome that only Mr. Tonaya had achieved. (Mostly through letting him and his best friend run around like cavemen during a particular history lesson.) “Sweet!” With that, he gave his trainer a thumb’s up – with a little flame dancing on the tip of his thumb.

Sam was a show off at times.

Being told it was also okay to fail seemed to help Sam’s confidence. Too often he’d attempted something beyond his skill set in training, only to be rather crushed he failed. Of course, this was usually due to him disregarding instructions, but the fact remained, he was often discouraged. This helped. “So you’re not gonna give up on me?” Some had, mostly due to his behaviour (or so he’d suspected), so he was surprised that Vincent was committing to him. Who knew? Maybe some stability in his trainer might help.

With a rare display of hand-eye coordination, Sam caught the frog with a grin. Catching skills came in handy when one’s best friend like to heft things at you without warning. “Hold a firework while it burns? DUDE. That is the coolest thing ever!” He could think of many, many applications for that skill. Like lighting fireworks at the lake with his best friend from his hands. Hey, Vincent launched them out of the fly of his pants from time to time. It was damn well time to show the bastard up.

It wasn’t hard to light the fuse. Once it was lit, Sam beamed as he watched it burn slowly. This was going to be awesome. He was so focused on the little paper frog that he inched his face closer and closer, just waiting for the bang.

... And forgetting what he was supposed to be doing in the first place.

On the plus side, his hands didn’t hurt terribly after the miniature explosion.

On the down side? Well. He might have singed his eyebrows. A little. “... Ow?”

[Vincent Meian]

While he never approved of lateness, things happened. That, and Sam was twenty - old enough to smoke legitimate substances, and old enough in Japan to drink (not that alcohol was allowed on the school premises). He was an adult and could make adult decisions on his own. He would get reprimanded for arriving late (if he did so), but very mildly. Mostly because it was expected of him. Maybe as their training progressed and the work the pyrokinetic had acquired with the law firm Sean had told him about became more serious... about then tardiness would not be excused. But for now, it was more important that Sam look forward to coming to training.

Still, the twitch of a smirk approved the younger man's enthusiasm, even if a less composed person might have rolled their eyes at the display. It was a start.

There was a slight huff of disapproval at the question, though it wasn't because of Sam. Vincent didn't believe in giving up on people - if someone needed a different trainer for specific reasons, that was one thing. But just dropping someone because they couldn't handle attitude or laziness was harmful to the student. "No," he affirmed. "I will not let you fail because I cannot be reliable."

Because, really, that's what it was.

It still took a degree of control not to laugh at Sam's exuberance at holding an exploding firework while it went off. While fireworks of this size were perfectly okay (if he could see them), most exploding devices of any kind made the Japanese man jump uneasily. It was an unfortunate side effect of his previous occupation, but at the very least it was under control. In a safe, controlled environment like this, there would be no risk to either of them if something went amiss.

Which, of course, it did. Since it involved Sam Rixon.

The miniature explosion of color and light had come up before Vincent could warn his student to lean back away from the rising heat, and in a manner to be expected Sam flinched away from the explosion a bit too late. With a slight sigh of exasperation and humor, the trainer shook his head and took the young man's hands in his own, brushing away the charred remains of the firework and the ash of the gunpowder inside. Aside from a little redness from the concussive force, there didn't appear to be any more damage than before - no fresh burns.

Alternatively, there was the issue of his eyebrows...

"It appears that you did well keeping the heat from your hands," he praised with a hint of a wicked smirk. "However, I believe that created a heat vent to rise straight into your face. You should be more careful of this in the future."

[Samuel Rixon]

If only everyone in the world agreed with Vincent’s assessment of Sam’s adulthood. His mother, for a start. Or the rest of his teachers. Or the government, so he could go out and drink legally. Not that he had long to wait. Still. He liked the idea of being an adult. It seemed so...exotic. As for Sam’s attitude, well, Vincent had it down to a science. As long as he thought training was still awesome, he’d come bounding down the hallways for it.

He cocked his head slightly at the huff, wondering what he’d said wrong this time. He was used to that reaction from people. Bouncing from trainer to trainer wasn’t alien to him. He’d had more than he could probably count, or even remember. Granted, some of those memories were addled from his smoking habits, so it wasn’t really surprising. Still. Vincent’s reaction managed to catch him off guard. “Really? ‘Cause...” He scuffed his foot against the floor and shrugged, jamming his hands in his hoodie pockets. “You probably saw my file. I think everyone thinks ‘m a lost cause, or something.” Maybe that was why he had yet to stick with one trainer consistently.

Sam dearly loved fireworks. Getting to hold one was thrilling. It was oddly something he’d never tried before, but now he had, he was going to do it the next time he saw his best friend. It was why his curiosity had gotten the better of him and had made him watch the little explosion as close as possible.

Of course, that had been a bad idea.

Sam and bad ideas went together like ice cream and cake.

He beamed as he let Vincent explore his hands, which, while tender, didn’t hurt terribly. That was a plus. “It was awesome! Can we do it again?” He was ignoring Vincent’s comments about his face, because who cared? Not him. Not when there were fireworks to play with.

[Vincent Meian]

The trainer quirked an eyebrow at the suddenly melancholy reaction from the normally cheery young man. He had thought that the shifting of trainers hadn't affected Sam that much, given his general attitude and especially given his willingness to train with Vincent. Apparently, he'd assumed incorrectly. "I do not think the way many people do," he replied simply. "In truth, it caused some trouble for me in my younger years. I do not believe that words on paper are enough to convey who a person truly is, nor their potential when they push themselves to succeed."

And that made up basically the core of Vincent's whole philosophy on training; attitude was everything.

Still, the trainer shook his head, the flicker of a smirk still present despite himself. "If you wish to try again, you may," he allowed. "Though you must try to protect your face as well, if you choose to look closely - I do not want you to be temporarily blinded because you were too exuberant to pay attention." Passing Sam another of the fire frogs, the tall man leaned back against the desk and watched carefully. He really didn't want Sam to hurt himself, but sometimes pain was a motivator to learn. So long as something didn't go permanently missing, they should be all right.

At least Nik wouldn't be too upset. Maybe.

[Samuel Rixon]

Growing up with the amount of siblings Sam had, he’d learned how to keep things that were bothering him private. It was hard to feel sorry for yourself when expressing it usually meant being coddled by an older sister, or sucker punched by a brother. He’d long since gotten used to being sunny and cheerful about just about anything, even when something bothered him. Like switching trainers every few semesters because he was probably a lost cause in the first place. It wasn’t like he didn’t try. At least, not all the time. Sure, he goofed around and played, and doing so in his early days of training probably didn’t help. Somewhere he’d heard that the older you were when you started training, the harder it was to control your powers. It might have been something Mr. Kilbourne had said at one point or another. Still, what Vincent said gave him a touch of hope. Tipping his chin up to look at his trainer, he smiled tentatively. “So... you ain’t giving up then, hey?” Maybe that was all he needed. Someone to keep at him even when he was probably driving them up the wall.

He shrugged at the advice, practically bouncing in place until another firework was set in his hands. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be careful this time.” And he was going to be. This was fun. He’d sort of gotten the hang of it with the pinecone exercise, and it was easier than trying to put out the sparkler. With an almost practiced ease, he flicked his fingers into the lighter like flame to light the fuse, and this time kept his face away from the thing. His concentration was where it should be, focusing on keeping his hands warm, but not flaming, as the fuse burned down.

The result was, well... impressive, for Sam’s reputation. The frog exploded into little colors, but this time he didn’t burn himself... anywhere. He was beaming at the little display in his hands, and when it subsided he grinned at Vincent. “That was SO COOL!”

[Vincent Meian]

A flicker of a smile crossed the trainer's features, quickly hidden but accompanied by a short huff of amusement. Give up? Him? If that day occurred, he was too old for the job. "I have been told I am too stubborn to let alone," he assured the pyrokinetic. "As long as you remain at Hammel, I will not cease to be your trainer."

Barring, of course, some very unforeseen circumstances. He could very well step off the curb and be hit by a meteor tomorrow, for all he knew. But Vincent was not prone to flights of fancy like that, so it wasn't really something he thought about.

The excitement on Sam's face was actually pretty contagious. It took an extreme effort for the Japanese man not to smile at his antics and simply watch as the exercise commenced again. Now that Sam was indeed paying more attention, the experiment went off without a problem - no burns, no hair lighting on fire, and (from the way Sam's excited gaze met his easily) no temporary blindness. With a nod of agreement and appreciation of the trick, Vincent answered, "You have done very well. You learned that ability much more quickly than I expected."

Which, given the trainer's usual expectations of his students, was pretty good for Sam.

Reaching over and picking up a ground flower firework, the tall man handed it to the younger man carefully. "Light this one, but smother the sparks before it is spent," he ordered. This was another test of Sam's ability to put out flames, but it would be easier than the sparkler because the pyrokinetic could hold it in his hands. "If you do this correctly, it will be able to be lit again."

[Samuel Rixon]

Perhaps that really was all Sam would need in terms of helping him progress. Stability. It was something he really hadn’t had in the way of training, always bouncing from one to another every few semesters or so. He’d made the most progress with Miss Sippercup, but that was mostly because she was tough on him. How he reacted to things like tough love tended to depend on a few factors. Sometimes he pushed himself through it, and sometimes he blew up and lost control. Usually the blow ups came after something like a fight with his best friend, or something along those lines. He had a quiet hope that Vincent would be helpful staying as his trainer. “Really? That’s awesome.” In more ways than one.

“It’s a fun one!” By this point Sam was more or less bouncing in place, clearly thrilled with the exercises in control. Training had never been this fun. Normally, pairing ‘Sam’ with ‘fireworks’ was cause for extensive concern. Instead, he was being handed them like candy. Yeah, Vincent was definitely his favorite trainer in the history of forever. He even praised him, which made Sam only want to up his game and do him proud.

The pyro took hold of the ground flower, eager to simply set it off and watch it explode. These he was very familiar with. The idea of having to snuff it before it exploded was not exactly thrilling, but hey. If Vincent thought he could do it, he’d do it. Maybe. He flicked his fingers to light it, and then settled into concentrating again. Protecting himself from fire and heat, he could sort of manage. But this was... yeah. Something he’d never been able to do. Thinking about it made him more nervous, which made him doubt himself, and his concentration was shot. The second the fuse hit the body of the firework, Sam dropped it and let it go off uninterrupted. “... That one’s hard. Can we do another frog?” Practicing putting out flames was his least favorite activity, and it showed.