"Conditioning sounds about right. A and another boy, B, were being raised together as possible replacements for a detective of considerable renown in their world, someone called Ryuuzaki—better known as L. I've been told those who oversaw their training allowed B to repeatedly rape A without intervening." There he paused, his expression darkening, as clearly that was the aspect of A's past he found most disturbing. "I'm unsure why they thought abuse of that kind would be conducive to their experiment. Here, at Hogwarts, A was offered the chance to retaliate, and relieved B of his index fingers."
He'd been absently fingering his wand, and, realising so, tucked it back into its place in his sleeve. "For what my thoughts are worth, I suspect aspects of that trauma may always be with him, as deeply ingrained in his psyche as it seems to be," he said. Which he knew mostly through careful observance of A's emotional state, but he also knew he could be wrong. "Whatever his original potential was is now lost, but, in overcoming his trauma, his potential may become even greater, depending on what you mean by potential. To be well-adjusted and grow as a person? To learn? The former would be of greater use to him right now."
Since the Baron hadn't indicated he wanted the massage right that minute, Jasper summoned his chosen glass slowly to his hand, without bothering to pull his wand back out. He tentatively sipped the wine, found the flavour slightly less acetic than expected. Not good, but not completely repugnant either. He watched with interest when Vladimir produced the canister, already able to smell the spice before it was opened—cinnamon-like, but very obviously something different, something... more. Something he felt compelled to taste. Gently shifting the raptor, he leant forward and held his glass out toward the Baron. "I'm curious to try some. A smaller amount than is usual would probably be best, as I've never had any before. Once you've had time to enjoy your wine, we'll see about your massage. You could stay where you are and just lean forward if that would be most comfortable." Anything was fine as long as clothing stayed very much on.
Vladimir repeating his half-serious offer earned him a smile. Jasper had been mildly flattered before, taking it as simply a form of praise, but now wondered just how earnest the Baron was being. The offer wasn't unappealing. It would give him something interesting to do, presumably without monopolising his time—he did have other obligations and desires, most notably pertaining to Alice and Satou, as well as seeing to his own magical education.
"Belief does seem to be a very large part of the magic here. As I understand it: Without belief that the spell can be done, focus would be as pointless as flipping a switch and expecting light when there's no light bulb in the socket. Um, assuming you can follow that metaphor." He had no idea what energy sources might be like in the Baron's time. Perhaps they weren't dependent on electricity. "And what would being your personal assistant entail?" he asked with a chuckle.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-05-18 07:32 am (UTC)He'd been absently fingering his wand, and, realising so, tucked it back into its place in his sleeve. "For what my thoughts are worth, I suspect aspects of that trauma may always be with him, as deeply ingrained in his psyche as it seems to be," he said. Which he knew mostly through careful observance of A's emotional state, but he also knew he could be wrong. "Whatever his original potential was is now lost, but, in overcoming his trauma, his potential may become even greater, depending on what you mean by potential. To be well-adjusted and grow as a person? To learn? The former would be of greater use to him right now."
Since the Baron hadn't indicated he wanted the massage right that minute, Jasper summoned his chosen glass slowly to his hand, without bothering to pull his wand back out. He tentatively sipped the wine, found the flavour slightly less acetic than expected. Not good, but not completely repugnant either. He watched with interest when Vladimir produced the canister, already able to smell the spice before it was opened—cinnamon-like, but very obviously something different, something... more. Something he felt compelled to taste. Gently shifting the raptor, he leant forward and held his glass out toward the Baron. "I'm curious to try some. A smaller amount than is usual would probably be best, as I've never had any before. Once you've had time to enjoy your wine, we'll see about your massage. You could stay where you are and just lean forward if that would be most comfortable." Anything was fine as long as clothing stayed very much on.
Vladimir repeating his half-serious offer earned him a smile. Jasper had been mildly flattered before, taking it as simply a form of praise, but now wondered just how earnest the Baron was being. The offer wasn't unappealing. It would give him something interesting to do, presumably without monopolising his time—he did have other obligations and desires, most notably pertaining to Alice and Satou, as well as seeing to his own magical education.
"Belief does seem to be a very large part of the magic here. As I understand it: Without belief that the spell can be done, focus would be as pointless as flipping a switch and expecting light when there's no light bulb in the socket. Um, assuming you can follow that metaphor." He had no idea what energy sources might be like in the Baron's time. Perhaps they weren't dependent on electricity. "And what would being your personal assistant entail?" he asked with a chuckle.