[C] A new place

Demetri had taken to the mansion quite well, he had been exploring and found a large amount of rooms that took his interest and had already spent a lot of hours in the library and a had enjoyed the kitchen immensely.

At the moment though he had wandered off, practicing some spells that Lucifer had thought him.

As he walked through the garden bundles of black fur followed behind him, he had managed to summon some of the hell hound pups to play with for a while, since Lucifer had gone off earlier in the afternoon.

Lucifer had gone off to piss off the angel.

It hadn't taken much, and now he was perfectly content and searching for Demetri again.

That also didn't take much. Just follow the bouncing balls of yapping fur.

He gave the human a dull look as he strolled towards him and his entourage of puppies.

He gave Lucifer a sheepish little smile, he knew how the man felt about him doting on the puppies and being soft on them.

He sat down on the grass and they all piled into his lap, laying up against him as Lucifer got closer.

They knew they weren't meant to play this much too and were using Demetri as a shield to avoid punishment.

"I was...practicing?"

He muttered with a soft, nervous laugh as he picked up one of the pups and showed the man how he had perfectly summoned them.

"Felicitations," Lucifer replied dryly as he crossed his arms over his bare chest.

Surprise, surprise, Demetri had picked up summoning very quickly. Lucifer had had to deal with the great number of puppies bouncing around yapping an ungodly noise far too often for his liking.

"And your other studies?"

Demetri looked up at him in mild confusion, he didn't know what that meant but took it as some sort of condescension.

"Umm..."

He floundered for a moment, hugging the puppy to his chest.

"I was studying in the library but decided to take a break for a little while, translating all those spells is hard."

Lucifer tipped his head backwards and sighed long and heavy.

"The level of difficulty is set to ensure you improve."

He didn't need Deme slacking off any more than he already did. If he was going to use the boy, he was going to make sure the boy knew what he needed to.

"How is your aura manipulation coming along?"

He always felt like he was being scolded for being stupid, it made him sheepish and he was worried about disappointing the man.

"Erm...not good..."

He replied, he had tried to do it, but he would get so close then not be able to alter it properly or he would get it done but then loose concentration within a few moments.

It was really frustrating and he was losing his determination.

Lucifer arched a brow with another sigh.

"You need to advance further than producing tendrils. Train with the ball again."

To demonstrate, his aura condensed into a solid purple ball. He tossed it up in the air before flinging it across the field. Demetri's amassed pack of pups chased after it happily.

"Attempt to solidify it as much as you can."

That was the best way improve at the moment. And it would keep Demetri at least somewhat interested.

Deme pursed his lips a little, tendrils were so easy to produce, it was his auras natural state and it felt right, forcing it into other shapes felt really strange.

He did as Lucifer showed him, forcing his aura to condense into a ball shape.

His was a lot less solid than Lucifer's, it felt more like jelly in his hand but it did maintain the ball shape.

"You have done this before. Focus."

It had been Deme's idea in the first place to condense his aura into balls for the puppies. Lucifer had never done it before Deme had showed him that it was possible.

The Fallen's eyes narrowed on the pitiful excuse for a ball.

At least he had managed something...

He had done this before, back when he was in the institution.

Back then he had been so focused, part of his hadn't believed that everything he had been seeing was real so he didn't doubt himself of whether or not he could do it.

His eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the ball.

After a few moments it solidified into something that felt like a hard rubber, at which point he threw it for the pups, the ball bouncing against the ground as they chased after it.

"An improvement." It was better than that pitiful excuse of a ball he had just attempted.

"You can keep the pups for as long as you can keep them quiet." Incentive.

If Deme could keep them focused on the ball during play time, they would be quiet. If he could wear them out, they'd be quiet after and he could keep them for the evening.

Hopefully the bribe of furballls would encourage him to do well.

Demetri perked up at that promise.

He liked having the pups around, if he could keep them for longer without Lucifer sending them away then he would.

Even from a far off distance Deme felt connected to the part of his aura that he had thrown.

With a flick of his hand he was able to send it flying across the yard without the need to touch it.

At which point the pups chased after it eagerly, if there was one thing they loved it was being on a hunt.

Lucifer watched the ball, eyes narrowing slightly in concentration.

He was doing quite well under the threat of having the pups taken away from him.

Now he had a bargaining chip under his non-existent belt. He could use the pups against Deme now. It seemed to work quite well for its purpose.

The Fallen moved from his spot, kneeling behind Deme and resting his hands on the boy's shoulders.

Immediately Deme would be able to feel the spike of energy in his body.

"Duplicate it."

Deme couldn't help the little jolt he gave when Lucifer touched him, the energy he shared always left him feeling so much more capable.

He watched the ball, imagined that he was still holding it, when he felt like the ball was actually in his hand he ripped it in two.

Across the yard the ball wobbled on the ground for a moment before splitting in two and soothing out into two identical balls.

Lucifer's influence always made things so much easier.

Lucifer gave a low hum as he watched the display.

It wasn't good. It was slow and sloppy. This was something he would have the boy practise.

He began to withdraw his own energy little-by-little, though he kept his hands in place on the boy's shoulders.

Would Deme be able to keep control of the two balls if he didn't realise Lucifer's energy wasn't feeding his own?

He was so focused on maintaining the balls that he didn't even notice that Lucifer's power was going away.

He figured that if the man was touching them then he was getting power.

Demetri continued to move the balls around, first in sync then moving them independently, one with one hand, one with the other, splitting the pups into two groups, each going for one ball.

Lucifer allowed a small smile to form on his lips.

So it wasn't lack of power that halted Demetri's ability, it was lack of confidence.

He knew how to fix that.

He'd been a teacher once. Encouraging under-confident students had been very common to him.

"You are doing well," he murmured, giving the boy's shoulders a small squeeze.

Give them praise and they eventually become more confident.

Demetri gave a bright smile at the praise, it was so rare that Lucifer said anything positive to him, let alone about him.

"Thank you."

He muttered shy in his success, after all he had cheated a little bit in using some of the Fallen's power.

"If I tire them out enough can they stay for the night?"

He asked, if they stayed quiet and went to sleep then maybe he could have them in his bed tonight to cuddle with.

Using Lucifer's power wasn't cheating. It was there for Demetri to use.

Lucifer just wanted the boy's personal power to be strong without his influence. It would make things easier for the both of them when they were able to execute Lucifer's plan.

"If you can tire them out."

A smirk pulled on the Fallen's lips.

"They are Hell hounds. It will take a lot to tire them out."

Deme watched them chase the balls, they seemed to be enjoying it but he couldn't help wondering if he could make them more excited to play chase.

He thought about how he had made the ball, adding additional shapes onto the ball wouldn't be that hard.

He focused on that for a long moment and the balls began to warp, strange shapes adding onto it.

Demetri gave a soft giggle as he looked at the 'balls' he had actually managed to make them look like little bunnies.

Lucifer let out an exasperated breath.

Bunnies?

"Well done," he murmured again. It was an addition to the complexity of the shape that Lucifer hadn't prompted.

If the additions weren't bunnies, then he would have been far more proud.

Demetri tried to suppress his little laugh as Lucifer sighed.

He had heard that noise a lot of time recently, but he was quite proud of himself, and the pups seemed to like chasing the little pink rabbits more than just a ball.

"How would I make them run like rabbits?"

He asked, he doubted he could do it yet, at the moment the rabbits were static but bounced around like a badly animated cartoon. If he could make them run and move like rabbits he bet the pups would go wild.

"You would need to know the intimate details of a rabbit's anatomy."

Lifting one hand from Deme's shoulders, he made a sweeping gesture.

At first smoke began to billow from the ground, then it solidified into the shape of a purple fawn.

The fawn skittered then darted. The hounds followed after it eagerly as it darted around the field.

If not for it's vivid colour and the lack of some essential details, it would look like a real fawn, with the way it moved so perfectly like a fawn.

"It takes much practise to be able to do it."

Since the pups were chasing after the fawn he brought his rabbit back to his hands and looked it over.

It looked like a taxidermy rabbit rather than a real one.

The bright pink colour wasn't helping.

"It's not as good as yours, but it's not bad."

He mused, looking it over, a little rigid but you could tell what it was.