New People? Happy Day! [Chase]

[Chase Campbell]

Chase wasn’t stretching the truth about mind control. It was a difficult power to learn to control, especially given its’ nature. Anything that could influence another person was tough, like pheromone manipulation, or telepathy. Most psychic powers fell into the same category, and as such often fell to Chase to train. So long as he kept his mental shields running, he was rarely able to be influenced by them, and was better able to direct their attention for training purposes. It was a lot of work, but worth it in the end.

The blond trainer looked rather pleased as she opened her eyes. “Yes, you did it right. The more you practice them, the stronger they’ll become. I didn’t break through them because I wanted you to feel what it’s like when someone tries to get into your head. Now you know, so now you know what to expect.” It was a basic defense, but so, so important to learn early. He was still trying to teach his husband how to create and utilize them, but progress wasn’t going very well.

“It’s visualization to start, yes. The more you use them, the stronger they’ll get.” Her other question made him smile. “Yes. It felt a little like...” How to phrase this? “A moth on a window. A light flutter against something thick, like glass. You can see it, feel it, but you know it can’t get in unless you invite it.” He didn’t particularly like being subjected to psychic powers himself, mostly because of the fact he usually had himself shielded, but for the sake of his students he let it happen from time to time. He had to, given that he often conducted one on one lessons with them, rather than group sessions. “Do you have any other questions before we move on?” She might as well get them out now before the lesson moved forward.

[Calysma Jamille]

So it was visualization. That and using the shields. Cal grinned. That was awesome. At least there was something about her power she could be good at, and that gave her some hope. Maybe if she got good enough at that she'd graduate sort've on time. If she relied on being able to mind control people, she'd never get through. And that was plenty discouraging when she thought about it. Which she tried not to.

Did she have more questions? Oh yes... if he asked, she would always have more questions. "How long does it take to get shielding down really good? If I get that down really good will the rest be easier? Could I just not learn how to mind control people? I'd be okay with just learning shielding and controlling so I don't mind control people if I can graduate with that." She took a breath before plunging on, hoping to curb any negative answers to her hopeful question. "I mean, there isn't really a reason to learn mind control, right? It isn't right to mind control people unless you're trying to train them, like you are, and I wouldn't be a good trainer, so I don't want to be a trainer, so there's no reason for me to learn that part of it, right?" She stared up at him, wide-eyed and hoping he would agree with her.

If he doesn't then let me take over and I can debate it with him.

Eh. And Lacey was back. Oh well, she'd disappeared for long enough to give her a break, so she didn't mind too much. And anyway, Lacey was right, she was better at debating things. She was also good at offending people, too, though, and the last thing she needed was to let Lacey talk to Chase and be offensive, especially on her first day.

[Chase Campbell]

This was going better than expected. Admittedly, the notes in regards to Cal’s... ‘other people’ had concerned him somewhat, mostly because he had no real experience with a condition like that. Still, he’d promised he’d try, and he would stand by that. He had dealt with unique situations before, and he wasn’t afraid of a challenge.

Clearly she wasn’t afraid of questions, either. Some students just quieted down and shook their heads when asked if they had questions. This was actually nice. “It takes a long time to strengthen them. The basics are the important part, because you build on that foundation.” He didn’t want to think about how long it had taken him. “And the point of training is to learn to control your power. The problem with mind control is that if you aren’t paying attention, you can use it without realizing it. It’s how I manifested, actually. Accidentally caused a friend to skip class against his will. I know it sucks to think about training it, but it’ll benefit you in the long run, I promise.” That was the worst part about mind control. Accidentally turning an idle thought into a command. It was potentially dangerous, too, if you were angry. Wishing someone would go and die in a ditch, or something equally bad could turn serious, fast.

Sadly, they could debate it all the wanted, but it was going to stand. She was going to have to learn how to control it, like it or not.

[Calysma Jamille]

Cal listened to Chase's answers with her hands clasped tightly behind her back. She bit her lip briefly, then ventured, "I do what to learn how to control it, but not... not actually use it on people. You know? Do I have to try to influence people to learn to control it? You could just teach me the controlling it part, right? The part where I just learn how to not mind control people? Because... there is a difference between influencing someone and not influencing someone. It's logical!" At the last couple of sentences, Lacey bled through, changing her tone and posture to a slightly more defensive, but mildly confrontational one.

Really, he was being unreasonable, there was no reason she had to learn mind control. Mind control was for people who actually wanted to control people. Of course, maybe he didn't understand that, because he liked controlling people just as much as Jamie did. He'd proved that earlier, right? When he'd made Cal pick up the pencil. It was a small thing, sure, but everything started small. All manipulation did. If Cal remembered, she would know that. But it was all right-- she would protect both of them.

Cal scrambled to regain control. No, no, no! Stay put, I don't need protecting right now!

You do. But fine, I can wait. You'll see.

Her posture relaxed, mere seconds after Lacey had originally surfaced. Cal took a shaky breath and put her hand against the desk to steady herself. At least Lacey hadn't really said anything too embarrassing... Determined to save face, she offered a smile. "I do know I need to learn to control influencing people," she added quickly. "You're the teacher though!" Her smile morphed to a grin. "You know what needs to be worked on for me to be able to control it. I'm ready!"

[Chase Campbell]

Chase was used to some push back from students, especially those with psychic powers. Telepaths didn’t want to practice their powers most of the time. It was the same with empaths. Mind control was the worst, because most of the time it wasn’t in the student’s nature to want to use it. Well, if it was, he’d be keeping a close eye on them. Not to mention eliciting Sean’s help in keeping an eye on them as well. “It’s like a muscle. You can read about how to train it all you want, but that isn’t going to help the muscle any. It learns by doing things. Like controlling people, yes, but we’ll do it in the classroom, and we’ll do it safely. If things are getting out of control, I can stop you. I promise, it will be safe.” He’d never willingly put his students in danger.

Though he’d noticed her slight change in tone and posture, he didn’t actually say anything under she relaxed and steadied herself. One hand moved to gently touch her shoulder in a soft attempt to help steady her himself. “Are you alright, Cal? We can take it easy for a minute, if you need.” It was no good to burn her out early.

She seemed okay, but Chase didn’t want to push her into anything. Pulling his hand away, he thought about what to do with her. Apparently her ‘other people’ weren’t fans of his teaching methods. Or at least one of them wasn’t. “We’ll take things slow for now. One small step at a time. A lot of it is just practice, training that mental muscle to do what you want it to do, rather than what it wants to do. It’s not easy, but I’ll be with you every step of the way. I promise. You already did well with starting with shielding. We can call that enough progress for one day. I don’t want you getting a migraine on your first day. Take it from me – they aren’t fun.” There were few things he hated more than being laid up with a migraine that made him noise and light sensitive to the point he had to go somewhere quiet and dark and wait for the good meds to kick in fully.

[Calysma Jamille]

Cal nodded slowly to his explanation of using her power being like a muscle. That made sense... a muscle had to be strong before it could control itself well. Weak muscles just flopped around... Even Lacey had to agree with that. And Cal was more than happy that a point had been made that even Lacey couldn't argue with.

She didn't react to the touch on her shoulder, as she hovered between the tendency to flinch away, or feel reassured by the touch and try for a hug. Any of those could have been reactions on any given day, but with already being in a mild power struggle with Lacey, a reaction of either extreme simply didn't come.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said quickly, cheeks growing hot in a bright blush. "It's all right, they were just... arguing. It wasn't Jamie though," she added, not wanting him to think the power-crazy one had tried to take over. In the past, that had ended certain sessions. For good reason, she guessed, but it could still be frustrating when she wanted to learn more.

His reassurance steadied her smile into one that was quite genuine again. That was right, that was what trainers were for, to be with students every step of the way in their training. "The shielding was fun," she bubbled. "I've gotten migraines before though, they aren't fun." She made a face. "Medicine helps though. What are we learning next?" she tagged the question on in perfectly natural fashion, curious to know what would come next. And anyway, she had that rush of determination that always came with reassurance, the kind that made her feel as if nothing bad could happen, and even if it did, it wouldn't matter because there were people around. People were the best things on the planet, she was pretty certain.

[Chase Campbell]

Both mind control and mental shielding were just like muscles. It was the easiest way he’d come to think about them. Just extensions of one’s body. Like a muscle at rest, his power generally lay dormant, until he chose to flex that particular part of himself and use it. Shielding was similar, and most of his students seemed okay with this analogy in the past.

“It’s okay. I understand.” At least as much as he could from her file. Dealing with it firsthand was... interesting, but he wasn’t daunted by the challenge. If he could conduct training classes with multiple students with similar or complimentary powers, he could handle this. If he had questions, he was sure Sean could help, at least with information that was generalized.

Next. Well... “We’ll be working on your abilities, both control and shielding again. We’ll slowly build on how long you can sustain your control on an unprotected mind, and how strong you can make the control. We’ll take it in steps, and you can tell me whenever you need a break. If we push too hard and you start a migraine, we’ll just go down and visit the infirmary.” He had his own strong painkillers for migraines, but he wasn’t able to give them to students. He didn’t even keep them in his classroom, choosing to let his husband look after them for him. He didn’t need them often, but when he did, James often knew before he did.

“For now, we’re done for the day. It’s more of an assessment and a short lesson, your first time with me. Next time, you’ll be working a little longer.” Absently, he twisted his wedding ring around his finger. “So, if you have any other questions, ask away. I know a lot about this particular power.”

[Calysma Jamille]

Cal smiled as he expressed that he understood. "Thanks." Of course he understood-- he was a teacher, they were good at the understanding thing.

No, they just say it to make you feel better, Lacey muttered.

Cal gave a mental sigh at the comment, but didn't even attempt to grace it with a retort. At this point, she was just tired of arguing. Confrontation, mental or not, was exhausting, and she'd had more than enough of it for a day. Actually, probably for a lifetime, but that was besides the point.

"I have some medicine for migraines," Cal nodded seriously. "A lot of students with mental powers do, don't they? They help a lot." She smiled happily. Of course, just because they helped didn't mean she thought her power was worth it. By no means. But she didn't want to say that aloud to her trainer. He had the same power, after all, it might be mean to say she thought their power wasn't worth it. And anyway, she felt like she'd done enough complaining and debating about things, no matter how big or small.

Anyway... "I think shielding is going to be easy to learn," she stated. "'Cause I can practice it anytime. And it's kinda fun! And it'll be super helpful if I ever get into trouble with another mind reader or someone!" That was definitely a bright side. Yes, the shielding thing was going to be awesome.

Done for the day? She restrained herself from sighing again, especially since he said it had been more of an assessment and short lesson. It made it easier to know that it hadn't been a short lesson because she'd messed up and lost control of Lacey. And anyway, that meant it was question time! Her eyes lit up with excitement as she started listing off her questions.

"How should I practice the mind control part of my power, since it isn't like the shielding and something I can practice without someone to practice on? How did you practice it?" However he had, it must've worked, 'cause he was good at it now! Of course, that didn't mean she necessarily intended to practice on her own anyway, but it was the thought that counted, right? "And do shields work inside, too? Like..." she struggled to ask this without sounding totally weird. "Can you shield your mind from... other minds... inside your mind?" She made a face. Nope, that just sounded weird. Might as well just spell it out: "When I'm good, will I be able to shield my mind from my Other People like I can shield it from telepaths and people?

She glanced down at his hand, momentarily distracted by his twisting a ring on his finger. "Are you married?" she added to her questions, looking up at him with a grin tending toward teasing. It was fun to "tease" people about being in love. Nicely, of course. Bullying wasn't fun at all.

[Chase Campbell]

“That’s good,” he assured. “Most psychic powers do have migraines as side effects. Eventually you’ll learn how to control it well enough to learn your limits. I still get headaches, but I really only get migraines when I have to use my power for a long time, or on a lot of people.” After a moment, he tipped his head to the side. “Or when someone has strong mental shields. It’s a lot harder to work past those to control someone than on someone that is unprotected.” It was rare now that he went head to head with someone with strong shields, unless it was a senior he was testing before signing off on their training documents to say they were in enough control to graduate. It was those days that he was very, very grateful that James ensured he had a good supply of migraine medication.

At least Cal was open to learning about shielding. Chase had lost count of students who had protested or resisted that part of his class, regardless of what he told them about it. As someone who was married to the victim of a psychic attack, and had seen the damage that could be done when one tried, it wasn’t an option anymore. He had to do something for these kids to help protect them as adults. The puppeteer that had attacked James might have been gone, but that didn’t mean that another person with similar intentions weren’t around the next corner or two. Maybe it was paranoid, but at least his students would have the means to fend off a psychic attack if need be.

“Shielding is important, and it takes a lot of practice to get strong. I’m glad you’re enthusiastic about it. Lots of my students aren’t. But the more you practice, the better you’ll get.” If she wanted to practice outside of class, all the power to her.

Her first question gave him pause. For new mind controllers, the only safe way for a while was to either use their power with their trainer, or in group training with other psychic powered students. “Well, you’ll be more or less restricted to using your power in training class only, if you can help it. Accidents happen, and we all get that, but for a power like ours? It’s safest here.” As for how he’d practiced, he had to smile. “I had a good trainer that was also big on shielding, but I did a lot of work with other students. A telepath was my usual training buddy, because we could practice on each other. Don’t worry, though. We’ll go slow and make sure you feel good about your training every step of the way.” The last thing he wanted was to push her.

Her second question also made him think. That, he didn’t know. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “But I can talk to Dr. Neville, as well as some of the side effect specialists.” Maybe he’d even reach out to some of the sister school. It wouldn’t be the first time since starting at Hammel he’d consulted with other schools for various reasons.

When the questions suddenly switched from training-related to person, it took Chase a moment to switch gears. An affectionate smile took over as he nodded. “Yes, I am. And I have a step-daughter in university, and a son that attends Hammel.” If she wanted to talk family, he didn’t mind. As long as she didn’t mind when the eventual truth came out that his spouse was a man. Most students seemed open minded these days, but there were always a few from more conservative states and families that weren’t comfortable with it. Hopefully, his newest student was the former.

[Calysma Jamille]

A lot of his students weren't open to learn about shielding? That was weird... "Why wouldn't someone want to learn that?" Cal asked, not trying to hide her surprise. "Since people like us know what we can do, why don't they want to learn shielding even more? And anyway, it's really cool... 'cause you get to imagine your own shield wall thing!" She frowned. It just didn't make sense. "I'll practice it lots, though!" she promised, perfectly sincere in this.

There was no denying it-- when Chase said that it was best to restrict her practice to the training sessions, she couldn't have been more relieved. She nodded vigorously in agreement to his mentioning it being safest there. Thank goodness he wouldn't expect her to practice outside of sessions... She didn't like to cause trouble or refuse to do things, conflict was one of her least favorite things after all, but she liked her power even less. Not having to practice out of class would definitely cut down on the amount of drama she already dealt with.

She listened curiously to his description of his training. It was always interesting to learn about how other people had learned to control their power. "Does your trainer still work here?" she asked. As for the bit about taking her training slow so she felt good about it, Cal didn't give the matter a second thought. She'd already decided Chase was nice, and that he wasn't going to move her along too quickly. No matter what Lacey tried to whisper in the back of her mind.

"Okay." Cal smiled, unworried that he didn't know the answer to her second question. He said he'd talk to people about it, which was enough for her for now. Especially since that list of people included Dr. Neville. He was super nice and smart too. And she could even ask him about it at her next meeting with him, or next time she made cookies... Whichever came first.

Cal grinned as Chase admitted to having family. "Awww, that's cute! Who's your son? I might've met him! And does that mean your wife is a meta too, since your son is? Is your step-daughter?" Her trainer having a family opened up a whole new field of questions to ask!

[Chase Campbell]

It was true. Teenagers were teenagers, convinced they were indestructible, and usually skeptical on what shielding could do for them. To answer her question, he simply shrugged. “Kids are stubborn sometimes. God knows I was.” Shielding had been a chore for him at the best of times during his time as a student. Cocky as he’d been about his ability, it hadn’t been until later in his training that he’d fully understood why he was being told to shield. Funny how training accidents could change your tune in a hurry. “But I’m glad you’re excited to learn about it, and willing to practice.” It was refreshing to have a student eager to learn, rather than fighting him on it.

While a lot of the powers that passed through Hammel’s doors had the potential to be dangerous, mind control was right up there in terms of potentially damaging. Not to property, like pyrokinesis, but to people. Chase had lost friends over accidental usage prior to being recruited, and knew firsthand just how important control was.

“No, they’re retired now.” Good thing, too. He could only imagine what his trainer would have had to say about his power usage over the past few years. Sure, they would have been another resource to determine just what had happened a few years ago, but he wasn’t so sure he wanted to go down that particular path. “Which isn’t a bad thing. I’m sure if he wasn’t, he’d still be making sure I was keeping out of trouble.” Which was debateable.

Talking about his family was always a good way to get Chase to loosen up. Brightening at Cal’s enthusiasm, he answered her rapid fire questions as best he could. “My son’s Nikolai Campbell. He’s thirteen.” A little younger than Cal, but Niko was all over the school now that he was gaining friends closer to his age. It had been harder when he’d first started at nine. “He’s in here from time to time, so you might see him here sometimes when you’re coming in for training.” As for the rest, he mulled over his answers. At least one was easy. “No, my step-daughter isn’t meta, but she goes to university close by, so we still see her a lot.” As for the remaining question, he toyed with his ring before answering. She’d react however she was going to. There was no avoiding it. “My partner’s meta, yes. He works here, actually. He’s head of the recruiting department.” She could make what she wanted to of that.

[Calysma Jamille]

Cal grinned at the comment about Chase's student-hood. She sometimes forgot that teachers were students too before, and so weren't perfect like they were now that they were done training. "Were you a bratty student?" she ventured with a grin, pretty sure the teasing wouldn't cause offense. He seemed like a pretty chill person so far, anyway! "And of course I'm willing to practice! I'll practice as much as possible!" She had to redeem herself somehow, after all.

She put her head to the side, quizzical. "So you don't keep out of trouble now?" He was a teacher, of course he kept out of trouble. He must have been joking around, then. "Teachers don't get into trouble." She giggled. "That's why they're teachers. They're super good at their power and don't get into trouble. " She nodded, as if she knew this from personal experience. Who knew, maybe one day she could be a teacher! Not a trainer, definitely, but a teacher? Maybe! That could be fun! Trainer or not, that brought up a new interesting question, "Did you have to do special training to be a trainer?"

Nikolai... She was pretty sure she'd met him before. It was her goal to meet everyone in the school after all, regardless of age. "I think I know who that is! He's nice. I haven't talked to him a lot though... If I run into him while he's around here maybe I'll be able to more!"

At first, Chase's last statement went over her head. She was good at listening, but her processing what people said sometimes took a little longer if it was unexpected. "She works here as a recruiter! That's cool! Maybe I've met--" she paused, the statement now processing. He. Not she, he. "Oh..."

... well that's right, make a big deal about it why don't you, Lacey mused.

I'm not!

After the brief pause, she crashed on with the conversation. "Him! Maybe I've met him! What's his power?" Sure, she had been raised in a family that had discouraged anything to do with homosexuality, and up until she'd come to Hammel, she'd not had any thoughts that deviated from her parents' on the matter. However, when one made as many friends as she did, such thinking quickly faded. She still felt a vague sense of oddness when she encountered such people for the first time, but Cal was nothing if not nonjudgmental. Surprised as she'd been at first, it wouldn't be long before she didn't give it a second thought.

[Chase Campbell]

“Bratty isn’t the word I’d use,” he admitted with a little grin. Chase didn’t mind being casual with his students, because it generally got him further with the kids than being uptight. “If I was being nice about it, I’d have called myself challenging. If I wasn’t being nice...” How did he put this delicately? “I’d probably say I was a giant pain in the butt.” He’d often told some of his own training stories to his older students if they had worked hard throughout class. Cal struck him as one that might stick around for a while. Already he was happy with her work ethic and enthusiasm. “I can see that. Just don’t go too hard, okay? Migraines are no fun.” He knew that from experience.

Teachers could easily get into trouble, if they knew where to look for it. They were often at a high risk for certain kinds of trouble, though Chase had never, ever been tempted to the dark side there. He’d found other ways to get himself into trouble, but that was a little dark for class. Instead, he just smirked. “I might be good at my power, but that doesn’t mean I stay out of trouble. Just ask my family. Teachers have lives outside of school, remember? Just like you.” He remembered thinking of teachers that way himself, but he could safely say now that he did indeed have a life outside his classroom, as did every other staff member. “I did. Hammel provides all the training to become a trainer, because it’s such a specialized job.” Funnily enough, he’d actually been recruited for the job by his now-husband. Which was miles better than his dead end job at the gym he had been doing prior to coming to Vermont.

Ah, Nikki. He didn’t doubt that Niko was nice to the other students. At the very least, his son had gained an awful lot of confidence since he’d been adopted. Chase smiled fondly. “I’m sure he’d talk to you, especially if he knows I’m your trainer.” It had always seemed to be a good ice breaker when nothing else worked.

Chase waited patiently as Cal made the connections. He was used to some sort of reaction, sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes just neutral. While he always hoped for good, or neutral at best, he couldn’t control everyone’s reactions. At least the majority of Pilot Ridge was quite accepting.

Finally, she carried on, and to Chase’s surprise, seemed to have switched without much more than a bump in the conversation. Relaxing a little, he smiled and shook his head. “You may have. He does still do some recruitments, but not as many since he was made head of the department. He’s got something called enhanced perception.” It was a difficult power to explain, so he went for the easy version. “It more or less means all his senses are heightened.” It was a lot more than that, but it was the easiest way to explain it. “And Niko can manipulate the weather.” They were a mixed bag of metas under one roof, but Chase wouldn’t have had it any other way.

[Calysma Jamille]

Cal laughed at his admission to having been a pain in the butt student. She had plenty of friends who were "challenging" too, and sometimes it looked fun to be problematic like that, but her desire for people to like her, teacher or student, always won out over being "adventurous", as some of her friends put their antics. She nodded seriously in answer to Chase's warning. "They're not fun. I'll be careful, though," she promised.

Lives outside of school. Sure, she knew teachers had lives outside of school, but it was weird to think about sometimes. Since she always saw them at school. And since she spent so much time at school herself. She could only go home if she had to, after all. And really, she almost preferred that she didn't get to go home that often. It made her sad to see her mom look at her like that. However, she couldn't think of that right now. She grinned as she expertly turned her attention elsewhere. "I guess so. I've never seen you outside the school though, so it's kinda weird. Was trainer training hard?" Her eyes were wide with curiosity.

Cal nodded emphatically. "I'm sure he'd talk with me!" Who wouldn't talk with someone else?? Talking was fun! "I'll have to tell him that you're my trainer now. That's exciting!" Having something in common always made it easier for others to see someone as a friend.

"I have a friend with enhanced perception!" Cal crowed. Really, it would be hard to find some aspect that didn't relate to someone she considered a friend. Everyone she talked to was her friend, after all. "It sounds really hard to learn to control." She made a face. Definitely not as hard as mind control, she was pretty sure, but almost right up there with it. "Are you Niko's trainer?" she asked. "Some trainers teach powers that aren't like theirs, right?" Of course, she wasn't sure how they managed that, but teachers were just super talented like that. That's why they were allowed to be teachers.

[Chase Campbell]

When he was a student, Chase had cared a lot less about what his teachers and trainer thought of him, and a lot more about what his classmates thought. Being late to class due to messing around outside on a skateboard had always been preferable, even if he had to pay for it by staying late. It had given him that bad boy aura that every teenage guy seemed to feed off of, and he’d been happy. He was glad that phase was well out of his system, though now he worried he’d start seeing his own son go through it. At least Cal seemed to be mellow enough, and he smiled at her. “Good.”

Was training to be a trainer hard? Chase had to think about that. “Well, it wasn’t really easy. I hadn’t done any kind of school since I graduated Hammel, which didn’t exactly make anyone happy. Not me, not my parents.” It had landed him in a rather crappy apartment and a dead end job working at a gym, often as a personal trainer. James showing up had been a godsend. “So it was hard to get back into that mindset of learning. Plus I’d never really thought I’d be any good with kids, but my husband proved me very, very wrong. Training in general isn’t ever easy, but once you guys seem to get that we were in your shoes once, it seems to get easier.” He’d held countless arguments with his trainer on topics such as ‘you don’t know what it’s like.’ On the other side now, he had long since realized just how ridiculous it was.

“If he knows you’re my student, he’ll open right up.” Or, at least, he’d used to. Now he wasn’t so sure anymore. He remembered what it was like to be thirteen, and confessing to your friends that your parent was a teacher probably wasn’t the coolest thing you could do. Well, whatever. It would be a phase. ... Hopefully.

Sadly, enhanced perception was a difficult power to control. James could attest to that, and it was especially hard for him, being that he’d been caught so late. “It is,” he admitted. “Dr. Campbell had a very hard time with it, and still does sometimes. Hopefully your friend catches on soon.” It was hard with the automatic powers. At least mind control was something you could turn on and off. James didn’t have that luxury. “Yeah, I train Niko. I have since he first came. He manifested very early, at nine, so he’s already got four years of training. By the time he graduates, he’ll have amazing control.” It certainly didn’t stop his son from messing around and making it pour rain or dump snow out by the cabin in the hopes of a snow day.