Of Numbers and Strange Friendships

Chapter 76

"Try again. Ground and center," Loki said in that overly patient teacher voice which Peter was quickly learning to hate. The pair were in one of the training rooms. Loki had taken this particular training room over when he started helping Wanda learn to control and advance her magic. The room was warded with the strongest shielding spells that Loki could put on them. The shields kept all wayward magic from escaping the room to affect the rest of the tower and to keep anything from outside interfering with them while they were working.

Now, Loki was also using this training room to train Peter on how to use and control his new Asgardian magic.

"I'm not getting it~~" Peter whined and fwumped back on his back on the padded training mats they were sitting on. Loki hadn't had the opportunity or permission to redo the training room to his liking yet.

Peter was frustrated and Loki watched his magic flare with his emotions. He was still on the first lesson and the most important lesson at that. He had to learn to ground himself and his magic, to center it in order to control it and build on it.

"Which is why you need to try again," Loki replied, still overly patiently. "You need to learn to control your powers so your emotions do not interfere with them," he explained again. He knew it was frustrating. There was no explaining when this step was done correctly. Peter just had to keep trying until it clicked. All young mages had to do the same.

Peter sat up again and didn't quite glare at Loki, he was still Peter after all and no one thought he actually knew how to glare, but he surely didn't look happy. He was frustrated and overworked and frazzled. "I'm not getting it," he repeated, his eyes begging Loki to help him.

Loki gave him a gentle look. "Breathe," he told his blood brother. He was used to teaching young mages and knew from personal experience how frustrating this was. He held out his hands palm up. "Breathe and relax and I will help you," Loki reassured him. He would always help. That was part of this lesson as well. Peter placed his hands on top of Loki's and fought to control his breathing and his emotions. Loki knew this was hard for him, knew that his brain worked so fast that it was hard for him to concentrate. "Good, now close your eyes," he instructed in his calm teacher's croon, specially designed to soothe anxious students. Peter's eyes closed and his breathing fell in line with Loki's calm, even breaths. "Feel inside for your magic, for your power. Focus inside, blocking out the world around you," he tried to use the same terms that the young man did when he was talking about his spider abilities, tying the magic lesson to something he already knew.

Loki's own vision changed with a bit of his own magic. He watched Peter's power flowing through his body and around him in an aura. In a grounded and centered mage, that power would be in a tight ball in his center and wouldn't be flaring. It took work and maintenance to keep one's magic under control, especially when emotions interfered.

"As you're breathing, focus on pulling that power inside yourself," Loki instructed. He couldn't do this for Peter, but he could use his own magic to soothe the teen's power, to help him grip it and pull it into himself. Loki could feel the change as Peter finally understood the feel of his magic. He pulled it into himself with Loki's guidance and the pair spent the next hour organizing it.

Peter looked exhausted when he finally opened his eyes again, but he was also so proud of himself. Loki gave him a warm smile. "Well done, Arachnid," he praised. His praise was rare, and all the more precious for being so rare.

Peter beamed, despite his exhaustion. He was mentally and physically drained. It had been a lot of work for one afternoon, but they both knew it was necessary work in order to keep his magic in line. He didn't want to lose his secret identity to anyone besides Aunt May yet. His identity would be in jeopardy if his magic started sparking out of control everywhere.

"So..." Peter's eyes lit with mischief and delight that looked exactly like Loki's got when he was in the middle of a bit of mischief. Loki instantly gave him the same look in return, excited for whatever was on Peter's mind. "What can I do with this newfound magic?"

Loki saw the grand plans and ideas in Peter's head and, unfortunately, had to very quickly squash them. "First you learn to summon light," it was the absolute first spell new mages learned. Usually it was babies who figured out how to make sparkly colored lights to entertain themselves in their cribs, but Loki wouldn't be telling Peter about that at the moment.

"Summon light?? Not anything.... Cooler?" Peter whined.

Loki raised an eyebrow, giving Peter the perfect look of a disappointed teacher. "Cooler? You wouldn't happen to be only wanting to learn magic to impress your friends, are you?" He asked disapprovingly. Loki created a ball of light with zero effort. "A light is a tool in the darkness. It may be a simple spell, but it is not one to be taken lightly. You never know when you'll have need of it. It can be used to light your way or blind your foes. It's gotten me out of trouble more than once," he explained and vanished the ball of light.

Peter groaned, but looked chastised. "Seven," he announced, using their number system to explain clearly how he was feeling. Seven was a crazily high number for Peter, though typical for Loki.

Loki chuckled, amused at how high of a number Peter had chosen. "That's to be expected, Arachnid. However, you will feel much better once you produce some magic on your own. Come on, let's give it a go," he told Peter warmly and the pair got to work, teaching Peter the simple spell.