It had been quite some time since Sasha had moved in.  He was very little trouble, in fact, he did as much as he could to avoid being in their way at all.  Akiva found this to be a little upsetting.  He was never in the way and they wouldn’t have taken him in if they did not want to, there would have been other options should that have been the case, but everyone seemed to walk on eggshells around one another sometimes, and Akiva just hoped that would start changing! 

So, she decided that today, she was going to surprise Sasha.  She had coaxed out of him when he did not intend to go to the barn and they had his class schedule.  It was perfect.  She had made it very clear to request it off as a vacation day (thankfully employment in the library was fairly flexible or she would have lost her job fifteen times over by now), and pulled on a pair of worn jeans and took a cap out of the closet, for when they started to work.

Dreogan, of course, was going to work himself, and Akiva was glad to spend some morning time with him while he got ready, not having to compete for mirror space, though still fixed his tie, per usual, and kissed him a few more times than she would have had she had to get ready as well… But, whatever the case, it was just a perfect start to a very exciting day. 

The surprise was going to be good, she thought – and hopefully, it would make him feel more at home!  It had recently crossed her mind that they never offered that Sasha be able to decorate his room.  This was, after all, partially his home now too and he was living in someone else’s quarters, not really his.  So, she was going to  take the time to do it with him – they seemed to be getting along better now anyway, talked a little more, at least, and she thought maybe this would be another way to bond. 

Sometimes she felt like he didn’t like her that much, but she had to remind herself that he was a fifteen year old boy who had gotten removed from the school for the rest of term, whose parents had just died, and was dealing with a lot on his plate right now – it was not as simple an explanation.  In some ways, that was distinctly comforting.  So, maybe this would just… make it even better in the house. 

Taking two steps down the stairs at a time, Akiva automatically made her way to the stove top to fill the teapot with water.  Tugging her wand out of her belt loop, Akiva easily filled it up and put it atop the stove, making her way into the pantry to find what she wanted to make for breakfast.  She was happy and as she got some food really going, Akiva looked up at the stairs.  “Sasha?” she called up, his door was closed – generally meant he was home, “Do you want any breakfast?”

He'd had another nightmare last night but those had long since become common place.  There hadn't been a lot of details - at least, not that he could remember once he'd woken.  It had been one of those dreams where emotions, not images, had lingered when the wet, cold, persistent nudge of a dog's nose against his side had pulled him from the dream.  There'd just been omnipresent fear with no distinctly recognizable source or cause.  And, there'd been cold.  He woke shivering and the shivering persisted.  Sleep didn't return until, after half an hour, when the shivering hadn't passed with the blankets alone, Sasha had coaxed Baldur up onto the bed and under the covers. 

Despite the interrupted sleep, he and the Shepherd were still out for a morning jog by six.  He'd always managed on relatively little sleep; studying each day usually kept him up until about one.  He'd been back by seven and showered and at his desk by seven-thirty.  Today was proving to be one of those rare days that was free of prior obligation and he was hoping to get a head start on some of his upcoming projects and assignments. 

Sasha had just cracked open his Transfiguration textbook when he heard Akiva's voice calling up the stairs.  He flipped his book closed and crossed the room to the door.  "Ja?"

This was just one of many differences between living at his old home and living here.  Before coming to live with Akiva and Dreogan, most of the year, meals were simply just taken at the school dining hall.  His mother never cooked and he couldn't remember her ever offering to fix a meal of any sort.  When he was home, Edith simply knew their schedules and had meals ready for them without prompting or invitation.  It had been efficient but unquestionably less personal.  He smoothed his shirt tails into his trousers and straightened his appearance before descending the stairs to the kitchen. 

"Good morning."  He paused in the doorway, glancing around the kitchen before crossing the room to the other side of the island.  "If it's not too much trouble.  I mean, I can always just fix some muesli."  That had been the first bit of cooking Sasha had managed to figure out.  Granted, it was pretty basic - he'd even managed to figure it out on his own.  Put muesli in bowl.  Add yogurt.  Eat.  Definitely manageable.  "Or, is there something ... you know ... I can help with?" 

"You're not going in today?"

Hearing the footfalls coming down the stairs, Akiva was glad that Sasha would come down to enjoy a little.  She worried he worked too hard at times, but remembered herself at his age and found it to be none too surprising that he was constantly involved in some academic pursuit or another.  He had a lot of potential, she could see it in how ardently he approached everything, and she hoped it worked to his best advantage in the future. 

He was bright and ambitious, it was silly to even question it – though, she reasoned, his propensity toward getting himself in sticky situations was a bit… counterproductive to a life of exceptional success, or at least one with relative ease.  She supposed every success she knew had something that constantly tried them, Sasha was just getting his taste early, apparently. 

The tastes for this morning though, would be some eggs, toast, and chicken sausage (as real sausage was out of the question, even for Kiva who allowed herself to fudge with Kashrut on occasion), and she shook her head as he suggested it could be trouble.  “No trouble at all!” she assured him, pushing the chicken around on the pan. 

“Why don’t you get out some glasses and whatever you want to drink?” she smiled at him, giving him a small task to complete.  It would be helpful, that was for sure, and since breakfast was almost done, it would just hurry up the process before the real work began.  With the two tasks completely under way, Akiva could only grin, flipping the eggs. 

She shook her head to his question, “I decided I would stay home today,” she grinned at him, “and I thought we should make up for some lost time.”  She pushed around those chicken sausages again, her eyes turned down.  “I know you’ve been here for a while, but you haven’t gotten a chance to really… feel like you’re at home.”

She put down the spatula for a moment, her hands on her hip and head cocked to the side, “I figured we could fix up your room.  It’s long overdue, I think.”  She hoped he was as enthusiastic about it as she was, and she tried to gauge his expression without being too… overwhelming.  She helped this by plating the various components of breakfast, casually glancing up at him, hoping that he’d be receptive to the idea.     

Sasha nodded and left his spot behind the island to fetch a pair of drinking glasses from the cupboard.  After setting them on the countertop, he moved to the refrigerator and gathered the bottle of apple juice and an unopened bottle of seltzer water.  "What would you like?"  He asked before returning to his place at the counter.   

For better or worse, dietary changes had proven to be one of the easiest transitions for Sasha upon moving into the Eleor-Katz household.  And, it wasn't because of any intentional awareness or attempt on his part.  If he were being honest, he'd have to confess he had never given kosher diets much thought before.  It hadn't even really occurred to him until Jacoba had given him the rundown shortly after returning to London.  Luckily, it seemed he already abided by most of the dietary restrictions by virtue of being vegetarian.  Which was probably pretty lucky - most Bavarians had a significant love affair with their pork products. 

"Are you feeling alright?"  Sasha looked up, the concern evident in his tone and expression.  Akiva hadn't given any indication that she wasn't feeling well but it would explain why she'd decided to stay home.  And, if she wasn't feeling well, there really wasn't any reason for her to be cooking.  "Are you sure you don't, you know, want me to help?  I can- " 

The concern shifted to confusion.  He unscrewed the cap off the seltzer water and filled his glass just under halfway with it before filling the glass the rest of the way with apple juice.  He hadn't had a chance to feel like he was home?  Was that ... had he been doing something wrong?  Did she think he didn't appreciate everything they'd done for him?  He hoped that wasn't the case; he felt incredibly grateful and he certainly meant to convey that. 

"Fix up my room?  Is it too messy?" he asked, misinterpreting the question.  Was it really that untidy?  He supposed it was possible.  Perhaps.  Except, he probably had had one of the cleanest bunks in all of Ravenclaw dorm.  Certainly amongst the boys.  He was, if nothing else, orderly.  "Is there too much stuff?  I know - I have all my books from the last five years; I never got to bring them home after previous years so they were all there when I left.  But, I can find someplace for them."

Hearing the footfalls coming down the stairs, Akiva was glad that Sasha was coming down and willing to have something to eat.  He was a nice young man and really deserved to enjoy himself sometimes.  She wondered why he did not afford himself that opportunity more.  She knew though, it was because he was so ambitious and driven it didn’t even cross his mind. 

Whatever the case, Akiva was going to seize the moment now and when he asked her what she wanted to drink.  “Orange juice, please and thank you,” she smiled over her shoulder, as pleasant as possible.  She needed the vitamins, honestly, as she was feeling a little fatigued, but some orange juice and tea would perk her right up and get them ready for the day. 

As she plated, she laughed softly, “I’m feeling fine, no need to worry,” she assured him, before going on and explaining her plan.  It did not seem to affect him in the same way though, her excitement seemed to turn into his fear and his immediate impulse was to assume that something was wrong.  Akiva blinked at him, unsure of how to respond before she immediately started laughing.

“No, no!” she continued to laugh, wiping under her eye, still amused by the sheer fact he thought his room, of all the rooms in the house was messy.  That was a joke if she ever heard one, and as soon as she got control of herself, she beamed.  “We’re not cleaning your room,” she insisted, “not at all!”  She put the plate in front of the stool for him, minus the chicken, of course.  She was getting used to the total vegetarian thing, though it definitely fit into kashrut rules, which was good.  She had a harder time with it (reform versus conservative was a little troubling in some of these cases). 

Walking around the island, she took her own seat, one foot resting on one of the bars under the stool and the other stretched straight down, squirming to get just the right position before nibbling a corner of toast.  “We’re going to decorate it,” she smiled, hoping that put him at ease.  “I figured it was definitely well past due,” she took a sip of orange juice, “and really, I don’t think the current décor is really you,” she giggled, thinking of the rather bare interior with just the piles of books he mentioned finding places for, no.  He deserved something better than that.  “More fun than the prospect of cleaning, I hope.”

Sasha kept a careful eye one Akiva until she reassured him that she was feeling fine.  From what he could tell - aside from the not being at work part - she seemed to be alright so he took her reassurance at face value.  "That's good," he offered with a soft grin before turning his attention to his own food. 

His anxiety started to fade as Akiva began laughing.  He grinned, the color rising in his cheeks, relieved that this wasn't a matter of his room being in an unacceptable state.  Especially since, if that had been the case, he really wasn't sure what more he could do to straighten it.  His textbooks were already alphabetized.  Using his fork, he shifted some egg on top of one of the pieces of toast and took a bite of both before looking at Akiva, his surprise evident.

"Decorate it?" He repeated.  "I - really?  Together?"  He considered this a moment before grinning, nodding his head.  That had always been the fun part about arriving at school.  He'd gone to boarding school before Hogwarts and the first few days were always devoted to the kids setting up their rooms and showing them off.  It had never been anything too in depth - they couldn't paint or anything.  It had been all about the posters, bedclothes, electronics and school supplies.  "That does sound like more fun than cleaning.  A lot of fun, actually.  I have no idea what décor is really me, though.  Is it like colors and such?" 

He took a few more bites of his toast and egg before glancing, curiously, at Akiva.  "You took the day off to do this?  To ... decorate my room with me?" 

She was so glad she had decided to do this for him.  It was completely worth it, looking at how he nodded eagerly as soon as he realized what was actually going to happen.  “Of course, together,” Akiva practically beamed when he started to smile.  That was one of the best things she had ever seen – Sasha was not the type to overly demonstrate how he was feeling and to see him smiling and being so… subdued excited about it was sensational. 

The pride she felt that her plan was satisfactory must have been showing on her face, because she felt as though her mouth muscles were tugging her face apart.  It was so important, clearly, because he was very excited about it, and that made Akiva excited too.  The idea that something this simple and obvious could make him that happy, well, it made Akiva realize just how much Sasha probably missed out on as a child in his particular circumstances.

Any description she ever got was less than pleasant and from what she learned about Jacoba as well, the house seemed distant and unfriendly at its best.  She did not want him to think that their house was the same, and since he would be here for quite some time, he deserved to feel at home – and that home was going to be an improvement in condition, to be sure.  “You know, just things you like – colors, furniture,” she grinned a little at him, “between the two of us I think our charms skills can complete the task,” she laughed softly, hoping that it would go well.

She was taken aback by his question though, as she started to nibble on the breakfast chicken sausage.  She stopped mid-bite and chewed as quickly as possible to answer, to assure him of that fact.  “Of course I did,” Akiva said with all honesty, “Frankly, I wish I had thought of it sooner.”  Also total honesty. 

“You’ll have to start thinking of your favorite colors and things,” Kiv pointed out, “we change it as much as we want, of course,” she pointed out, “magic is so much more convenient than paint and rollers.  We could probably even do a moving mural or something of the sort, if you were interested in something like that too.” 

The exuberance to which Akiva agreed that they were going to be doing this redecorating thing together was, admittedly, a little strange.  Not in a bad way, of course.  It was just ... different.  It was the type of expressive openness that his parents would have found embarrassing.  Even here, now, with no one else in the room, it was hard not to feel a little self-conscious about the eagerness with which she approached the prospects of a group activity.  It didn't help that, to some degree, he kind of liked the attention.  He grinned but ducked his head to take a bite of food in an attempt to cover the color that rose in his cheeks. 

"Furniture?"  Sasha repeated, glancing up from his plate.  "Isn't that expen- oh," he started before the rest of the plan became clear.  "You mean, when we want new furniture, we just have to transfigure it?"  He glanced down at his plate, considering this realization.  Homelife in a wizarding household was still as novel as the concept of parents involved in parenting.  And, while Hogwarts offered muggle studies to help wizarding kids understand muggle life, there was no wizarding home economics course for those novices to the wizarding world.  "There's no furniture stores in Diagon Alley, is there?" 

Weird. 

Sasha grinned sheepishly at Akiva.  That his question about her staying home on account of him took her so much by surprise was just one of many indicators of how different their perspectives on home and family were.  "Usually, my father only missed work on our accounts if we'd done something really wrong.  Which was never a good thing.  I really appreciate this."   

"Really?"  Sasha looked up at Akiva, his mind already thinking through the possibilities.  "A moving mural?   Do you know how?"  Now that the idea had been presented, his mind was already starting to work through ideas and possibilities.  He turned back to his food and started eating it a little faster than before. 

While chewing a bite, Sasha glanced around and reached for one of his notebooks that had been left on the kitchen table behind him.  He began sketching out some rough outlines on a blank page.  "I've never painted with magic before, really.  Is it hard?" he asked, glancing up.

For half of a minute, Akiva completely forgot that Sasha was a muggleborn too.  She remembered how it had felt adjusting between wizarding and muggle every break when she was at Hogwarts and how the lines started to meld, causing her to slip up from time to time – thankfully, the imaginative capabilities of a child was never really questioned. 

When she got older, the adjustment got easier as she was able to live on her own and incorporate more of her wizarding life into what she was doing, and after so many years, it was really second nature.  For some reason, it completely slipped her mind that he would not be used to the same sort of thing.  With these sorts of things, you learned by doing though, and Akiva giggled softly at his question.  “There are accessories and things, but I’ve never seen a full furniture store,” she grinned.

“Some wizards make furniture, I know I’ve seen ads in the Prophet for chairs and wardrobes – things like that, but I think we can manage.”  She learned by doing, and had been doing this for a while now.  Whenever she felt like changing something, she just tried it – and reversing a spell on a couch or bedside table was usually a lot easier than casting it originally.  A little trial and error would get this right. 

She frowned when he admitted that the only time anyone stayed home specifically for him or his sister was as punishment.  Spending time with someone shouldn’t have ever felt like something to dread.  Apparently, it was just a very different approach to family – one that Akiva just could not come to terms with – she felt like if she accepted it, that would make it okay, and she just couldn’t do that.  When he said he really appreciated it, well, Akiva felt a bump in her throat – curse being emotional!  “This is a good thing, trust me,” she giggled softly. 

Her plate was practically cleared, and Akiva rose from the stool, shimmying down off the top and landing with her feet flat on the floor.  As she walked over the sink, Akiva listened as she turned on the tap and started to wash the dish.  “Well, I’ve tried it a few times…” she began, trying to instill confidence, though the one time before the last it turned out something like that “Scream” picture… but that wasn’t important, not really… she’d work on it. 

“It’s really more about…” she paused for a moment, wrist deep in dishwater, “visualizing than painting… you just close your eyes… and point… and it sort of just… happens.  You’ll see,” she smiled.  “When I was seventeen…” she laughed at the memory, “I made the Milky Way on my ceiling… it helped me sleep, even when everything… the whole world was ripping apart.  All I had was space.”  She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, and she glanced out at the backyard. 

She turned around, grinning as she did.  “You’ll see what I mean when we do it.  Almost ready?”

Sasha paused in his sketching to give this new information some consideration.  "I guess I remember a few adverts," he confirmed with a slight nod of his head, looking up from the page.  "I stopped reading it this year; I guess I forgot about them."  It wasn't like he'd given them much consideration, after all.  Even when he still read the Prophet, he didn't usually go browsing the furniture advertisements. 

He wouldn't have voiced it aloud (he wasn't looking to discourage this activity after all), but Sasha wasn't sure he would have felt comfortable modifying their house with magic if he'd still been using his old wand.  He missed the old apple wood and phoenix feather wand (or, so the welcome witch at the Ministry had identified it as when she'd checked it in back in November).  Even though it had never exactly worked well for him, it had felt somewhat like losing an old friend when he'd discovered it had been broken.  But, trying to transfigure a cocoa bean with it had sent it flying across the classroom at classmates. 

His new wand, though - whatever it happened to be - still continued to amaze him with how easily and smoothly it worked with him.  Despite the uncomfortable start to their relationship, it was proving to quickly grow on him.  He was actually curious to see how this exercise would go.  If it really was as suited to him as Kronos claimed, well then - this might work out quite well. 

An empty plate in hand, Sasha pushed himself off of the stool and brought his dishes over to the sink.  "Is there anything you don't, you know, want me to do?  I mean, it's still your room.  I don't want to do anything you'd hate."  He had some ideas forming in his mind.  At least in terms of the walls.  He wouldn't really consider himself an artist, exactly, but he did like to sketch every once in a while and he loved doing photography.  "And, so, if you wanted it to move - like with paintings and murals and such - you just visualize how the image changes, too?" 

He finished washing his dish and set it in the drying rack and reached for the towel.  Her other comments took him by surprise and he looked up from his hands.  But, Akiva was looking out the window with a curious, introspective expression on her face.  He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, unsure if he was intruding.  "You really did that?" he finally asked.  "Were you still, you know, living at home?  What was-"  he started to ask but cut himself off.  He was curious about the whole world ripping apart comment; it was a feeling he felt somewhat familiar with.  But, again, he wasn't sure if that was too intrusive. 

"I - yes.  I think I'm ready."  He started up the stairs towards the guest room.  Assuming she wouldn't hate the idea, he had a pretty good picture of what he wanted to do, too. 

“I don’t blame you,” Akiva sympathized, knowing the Prophet had not been so kind to him.  It was seldom kind to anyone, really.  It seemed the only news that sold was bad news, and that generally meant someone in the article was being lambasted for something.  She certainly couldn’t imagine Sasha wanting to be part of that – either written or reading. 

She wouldn’t mention it again anyway, as she wanted today to be a positive experience for Sasha.  Even though it was not a set time frame that he would be staying with them, he was always welcome to spend nights and weekends, should he so choose and he should have somewhere he felt comfortable and safe.  Of course, wherever he did end up for the long run, she hoped he had the same option to be as comfortable as possible, but until then, she’d make sure he had that here.

When Sasha asked what the restrictions were, Akiva made pause.  She hadn’t even thought about that.  Her first reaction was to laugh and shake her head, “Pretty much whatever you want, though let’s keep it family appropriate, yeh?” she giggled a little, nudging him with her shoulder, hoping to loosen him up a little.  She couldn’t imagine Sasha even wanting to cross those lines, but he was a teenage boy, so…

Not important.  What was important, she thought as she started to move toward the stairs, regarding his question with a steady slowness.  “You sort of just… see what you want… and the picture forms itself…” she said slowly, putting her right foot on the step, but stopping at that point to turn toward him.  “Little things that you don’t necessarily consciously think of – wind through the grass, leaves falling, all of that – if you get the big picture, the small things just fill themselves in.” 

That was the beauty of creating mental pictures; everything just… filled itself in. It was so much easier to imagine than it was to really live in reality sometimes.  “I was,” she nodded, “my parents didn’t mind.  If it made me happy, they wanted it for me.  It was a good distraction, just changing it whenever I felt like – never when they were home, of course, and I had to modify the charm a little so it would stop moving when the door opened, just in case, but it was  really nice.” 

“Let’s get to it then,” she beamed, starting up the stairs with a spring in her step.  She was very excited for this, and stopped in front of Sasha’s door before she would enter – it was just rude to not let the occupant go first.  “After you,” she smiled brightly at him, a grand gesture for him to go into the room first, “get a good feel for what you want and I’ll be very glad to just act as the vehicle for change,” she laughed softly, her fingers twitching over the wood of her wand. 

Sasha paused and blinked at Akiva, his confusion quite obvious.  Family appropriate he mouthed back, scowling in thought as he watched her climb the stairs ahead of him.  She'd almost reached the upper landing when he started to climb again.  He was, indeed, a teenage boy but he did happen to about one of the densest and clueless teenaged boys out there. 

"But,..."  Sasha started to voice tentatively as he reached the top of the stairs.  In trying to picture family appropriate rooms, visions of brightly painted walls and large colorful caricatures on the walls came to mind.  He really wasn't certain what his 'style' was, exactly.  But, that was a style he felt confident ruling out.  "I don't ... I mean, I like marvel comics and all of that, but I don't think I want them running around on my wall."  That.  Would just be weird.  And, creepy.  Professor X was cool.  Just not actually rolling around on his walls.  "Can it be ... subtly family appropriate?" he asked. 

He hesitated on the outside of his door, making a quick mental inventory of the state of his room when he'd left it.  He couldn't remember having left it in any sort of ... embarrassing state.  There might have been a letter from Fergie with some pictures on his desk.  He couldn't remember.  Under the pretense of straightening his things, Sasha moved over to the desk and found the letter and discretely stashed it inside his chemistry textbook as he straightened the mishmash stack of spell, math and science books. 

"So, projecting your visualizations," Sasha asked, moving away from his desk once it had been 'straightened' and looking at the walls of his room. He retrieved his wand from his backpack and returned to Akiva's side, glancing around the room again.  "I was thinking something more ... foresty?" he asked, tentatively.  "I don't know if that, you know, works.  Is that ... I'm not sure what all counts as family appropriate." 

Sasha nodded, as he gazed around the room, the image of what he was considering still solidifying in his mind.  "He seems very nice," he voiced, thinking about the description of her parents encouraging her to decorate her room.  He'd met Akiva's father on a few occasions as he got settled into classes.  "Mr. Katz.  He has helped me a lot with getting things organized." 

Clearly, Sasha did not understand what Akiva meant.  She was not the best joker in the world, that was true, but she thought it would be pretty obvious… comic books were fairly family friendly… She giggled softly and shook her head, deciding that she was not going to go into it.  Neither of them needed that added awkwardness.  Besides, she was slightly glad he didn’t want comic book heroes on the walls – she would have no idea how to cast that spell – she didn’t really know what most superheroes looked like…

Turning to look at him over her shoulder, Kiv giggled softly.  “I’m sure whatever you think of will be fine.”  She was definitely assured of that – he probably couldn’t have a bad thought if he tried. 

The magic of this was at least something the two of them could really talk about.  Akiva always loved charms – it was one of her favorite subjects, outside of astronomy, and when she had been at school, when she worked at Flourish & Blott’s she always looked over new charms books, and at the library, she also had a chance to look there too.  When someone looked at her, they might not have assumed she was very smart or talented in that way, but she was.  She really was. 

They also had a propensity towards having to have everything straightened and clean before allowing someone into their space in common.  That had gotten better since she and Dreogan had moved in together, considering they now shared a space.  Naturally, he was just as tidy as she was in many ways, but still, it wasn’t the same.  Home was home for a reason, and leaning against the wall as he straightened up and spoke – then, of course, took out his wand.

“No wand for you,” Akiva pointed out, “not until you’re seventeen.  We follow the rules here,” she smiled, trying to be light-hearted while still enforcing the rule that the wand did not come out – not for this sort of thing.  It was understandable for the situations (God willing that would not come up again) where self defense was necessary, but Sasha was not going to get himself in trouble or put himself on a radar for this.  “I’ll do it – and I’ll fix it as many times as it takes to get right, I promise.”

Her smile widened as he talked about her father – one of the most important men in her life, and one of the best.  She was so glad he was helping Sasha along and making a good impact on the kid.  He could use someone older, someone like her dad, guiding him along with academics.  “He’s a fantastic professor, and he will help you with anything you need,” she added, just in case he needed to hear it – even if he didn’t, it was nice. 

“Now, let’s,” hiccup.  Odd. She shook her head – she didn’t mean to do that.  “Let’s get this forest up here.”  Another hiccup.  She used her left hand to rub her stomach, right under her chest line, hoping to rid herself of the offending uncontrollable action.  Pausing a moment, taking a deep sniff through her nose, she reasoned that it was gone, and closed her eyes.  “One forest… coming up…”

She saw the picture erupting behind her eyes, the trees, the tall grass, the wind.  There were deer deep in between the trees, and some purple flowers with white ones interspersed in the grass. Even if you couldn’t fully see the sun, the light streamed through the trees and she could hear a stream burbling in her head.  It was so peaceful, and she raised her wand hand, starting to wave her wand.  And then, all of a sudden, the tranquility of a forest – the spell that was on her lips – hiccup!

She felt her hand jerk, and she opened her eyes, a horrible gasp escaping her lips as she looked at the whole thing.  The colors, green, brown, yellows, everything were like one of those Russian splatter paintings.  Her left hand flew up to her mouth and she blinked, she blinked wildly, “That… wasn’t what I expected…”

"Oh," Sasha said, simply, stopping with his wand in hand.  Oh, yeah.  The whole underaged wizardry thing.  Sasha really hadn't given it much consideration before.  Before Christmas, he'd never even dared to bring his wand home on holidays so magic outside of school simply wasn't an option.  "I guess you're ... not really a tutor," he conceded, slipping his wand back in his pocket. 

He could see this was going to be an interesting exercise - Sasha was usually such a specific and exact person.  He could picture what he wanted though it wasn't that simple to explain.  Yes, it was a forest scene - she'd gotten that much right.  It was ... it was hard to explain.  And, he liked what Akiva came up with, it just ... it wasn't what he had in mind.  Especially with the added art deco look.  "It adds ... character." 

But, a picture was worth a thousand words.  Which meant, the easiest way would be to show her. 

Sasha grinned slightly as he pulled the chair out from his desk and slipped his laptop from his backpack.  Most of the time, the computer still worked with two magically-capable people in the house, though it did seem a little more prone to freezes and crashes.  What those were doing to the longevity of the thing, Sasha couldn't guess.  If all three of them were home, though, it wasn't even worth trying. 

"He is good," Sasha agreed, referring to Akiva's father as he waited for the computer to boot up.  "He's helping a lot, too.  I tried to keep up pace with math and such when I was at Hogwarts, but I am - was behind."  It was by luck that Professor Katz was teaching an entry level university mathematics class.  With a fair bit of assistance from Professor Katz (especially now, in the beginning), Sasha was finding his way.  Under normal circumstances, his marks on those tests wouldn't have ever satisfied him - nothing but being in the top 5% usually did - but he wasn't taking this class for credit.  So, they weren't going on his record.  And, all things considered, even he could see scoring on par with the majority of his classmates was an accomplishment. 

And, Professor Trishna's assignments had been getting progressively easier. 

"He's very patient, too."  Which was good, considering Sasha had been ending up spending a fair bit of time around Professor Katz.  To be honest, Sasha was enjoying being around a muggle academic. 

He opened up one of the photo albums on his computer, flipping past a variety of family photos and pictures from horse shows before stopping on pictures of a very familiar forest.  "I'm kind of picturing a forest like these but ... it's hard to explain.  Not really like a photo or a full spectrum mural.  But, more subtle.  With colors that fade slightly with the seasons.[1]"  He had no idea how relatively easy or complex this was.  But, if stars could move on a ceiling, why couldn't a forest change with the seasons?

"Like, it's early spring now.  So, the wall would be kind of like a light shade of silver green.  And, the picture would be defined by relative shades of that green.  And, then in summer, it might be a slightly brighter green that would fade and get just these subtle touches of gold and reds in autumn.  And, then fade to like a silvery-blue in winter.  I-"  He glanced at Akiva, not sure if any of that made sense before turning back to the pictures. 

1.	Here's an image of what I'm thinking.

 “You’d have a lot more freedom if I was,” Akiva smiled softly, not wanting to sound mean, but she wasn’t a tutor and this wasn’t a lesson.  It was just a friendly gesture, a way to make him at home and show off a little herself.  Sometimes she felt like people forgot that she was talented too – and not that she wasn’t appreciative of what she did have, and the skills people knew her for – but, well, she was magically gifted.  She wouldn’t have been able to go to Hogwarts without that, and it always felt good to do something someone else couldn’t. 

Apparently though, when she opened her eyes, the half scene with the splatters all over, well, Akiva wasn’t very impressed with herself either.  Making a muffled sound of frustration, she took a deep breath through her nose and lowered her wand.  “Minor setback,” Akiva noted with a little sigh, relaxing her shoulders and wrinkling her nose.  “We have all day…” she added hopefully, chuckling a little nervously.  She hoped that she had not just set herself up for failure. 

Granted, she had not done this for some time – but it was one of those things she always thought she was good at.  Maybe it was better, she thought, that she wasn’t perfect the first time.  It was a testament to the lifelong learning process her father talked about, sometimes it was important to have a weakness.   She imagined that was part of the thrill of being a teacher.  She remembered her father telling her how making mistakes was important, it reminded people they didn’t know everything.

So, she would take it with a grain of salt and try again.  She was feeling a little rusty.  Using her knuckle, she itched her nose and stood behind Sasha as he took out his computer.  It was a generally workable item in the house, if there were only a couple of people around.  She had the same problem, of course, when the numbers were off, but with the two of them it should have been fine. 

Watching the screen start to turn on, Akiva smiled.  “He’s always been that way – nature of being a theories sort of person, I think.  Always having to wait to prove something – nothing happens overnight in that field,” she laughed softly, thinking of what he did and how it translated to his personality.  Her father was certainly a little out there, of course, but he always meant well and was grounded, in certain things, which made him a good man.  She liked to model herself on his personality in many ways.

When Sasha pulled up the picture, Akiva smiled even wider.  His description had been apt, but the picture really helped.  Pursing her lips, she considered his request and nodded.  “It might have to be updated at the change of the season,” she admitted, “I’m not sure I’m as good as I used to be,” she laughed a little, standing up straight, glancing at the picture again, with Sasha this time. 

Suddenly, there was another hiccup and Akiva jumped as the computer scream freaked out – jumping colors and blacking out for a moment before settling back – still jumping colors a bit.  Raising her eyebrows, she put her hand on her stomach and blinked, “That was… odd…” she bit her bottom lip, “Maybe we should… shut it down before we try again?” she offered, not wanting to short it out or anything – that had been an odd incident to begin with, and suppressing the urge to hiccup again, she looked at the screen again before stepping back and letting Sasha shut it down, not wanting to fry its internals or anything. 

Looking at the wall, Akiva closed her eyes and raised her wand again, slowly drawing her wand across the expanse, clearing away what happened before and pointed squarely at one wall.  She collected her thoughts, imagined the stunning photo Sasha had showed her – and another interruption!  She hiccupped and opened her eyes – the season was all wrong!

Icicles hung from the trees, the stream was quasi-frozen and the snow was half-way up the wall.  It was also obviously windy and a light snow continued to fall.  Beyond that though, there were still flowers, and  a very misplaced looking set of bright green, summery looking trees – and a few with orange and brown leaves scattered around as well.  What was going on?  Frowning, Akiva looked at her wand, “This… has never been so difficult before…”