igniting the flame [charade]

He watches the young girls face closely. He took note of the way she bounced on the balls of her feet. She was nervous. In most occasions this would delight Victor. He liked to watch people squirm in his presence. It made him feel powerful. And in the end all he ever wanted to feel was powerful. But watching Isabelle bounce nervously didn't sit with him right. There was just something about the girl, he didn't want her to be nervous around him. He wanted her to be confident. He needed her to be confident. He could see such potential and he wanted to utilise it.

Not often did Victor have such a soft spot for the children. But every once in a while, one would come along.

And Victor hated it. He thought it might make him appear weak. Might create a small crack his wall that he had spent so long building. It unnerved him.

It also challenged him, in a way that he was not familiar with. In most cases, he loved a challenge. He loved having the opportunity to crush his opponent, whether it be in swordsmanship, or even academics. Victor loved to win. He loved watching his opens get defeated, watching the disappointment, or pain cross their faces even though they tried so hard to hide it. But in cases like this, it made him uneasy. And Victor didn't like being uneasy, it was something that he was not familiar with. And he detested the way it felt. It almost made him feel weak. Ugh, the shame. If he was not careful, it might almost look like he had a heart. And he could not have the people thinking that.

“I don’t feel anything about his name.” Victor fights the urge to roll his eyes. He didn't have to look hard to see that she was lying. She might have believed she was covering it up well. But Victor had three lifetimes over her of experience and could break down her facade like it was a wall of styrofoam.

But he says nothing, allowing her to continue on. There was a time and place, and right now he needed to let her mull over it, to nurture the ember that was beginning to burn.

"I hate his face." Finally something he they could agree on. Pride, oddly enough, began to pulse through him. He found joy in the thought that Isabelle too, hated his face.

“He’s a loser,” there it was again. Another pulse of pride.

“And he makes me want to headbutt him.”

Oh, how she dreamed so small.

Victor would change that. He would open her eyes to a whole range of things that she could do that would be oh so much more effective than a simple head butt. So much more deadly.

"You dream too small, Isabelle. You need to look at the larger picture. Think of things that would be more effective. You want to hurt Finn, yes?" He walks around so that he is beside the dummy, his body facing Isabelle. "Well, why not think more permanent.

Now, tell me, for someone your size, what do you believe should be your weapon of choice?"

Victor believed that a lot of people cut themselves short. That if they just opened their eyes wider, they would see that the world held a lot more opportunity than they first thought. If they did, they would see that life didn't have to be so dull, that it had the opportunity to be something quite magnificent. Something exciting. Dangerous. But most people had, what he liked to call, selective vision. They didn't want to see further than what they already had, fearing the unknown because a lot of the time it was a gamble. And not a lot of people liked to gamble, scared that they might lose everything. But if only they looked at the other side of the coin, they would see a life that would fulfil them beyond what they ever could have imagined. Maybe it would be in money, or happiness, or reaching goals that they have had drilled into them from the moment that they could understand the meaning of wanting something.

But then on the other hand Victor found that he couldn't give a fuck if others walked around with blinkers on. Because to be honest, he didn't care much for anyone bar himself, oh and Killian and Octavia.

“I want a me-sized knife. Spears are too long and the swords are too heavy sometimes.”

Victor smiles as her response, reassuring her that she was heading down the right track. Her eyes flick back over the dummy. The name scribbled on its chest. He could see the anger that fluttered deep within her, he could see it in the way that her nostrils flared.The name did flare the anger inside her. She couldn't hide it from him, and he didn't want her too. After all, how was he supposed to sculpt her into the perfect weapon if he she withheld vital information.

"Very good, Isabelle." Victor parises as he walks towards a knife rack to the left of the room. A large range of blades are held on display. He runs a careful hand over them, the same way a mother might caress their new born child. "I know they might not seem like much, compared to a weapon such as a sword. But you must not underestimate them. They may be small, but they are deadly."

He takes a moment to examine the assortment of blades. Perfect, he thinks to himself as his scarred fingers close around the hilt of a knife with a blade which was thicker than the others. He twirls the blade between his fingers as he saunters back over to Isabelle. "Knives can be concealed. Therefore they can become an element of surprise. And surprise is something that can be taken full advantage of." He kneels down in front of her, gesturing towards her boots. "Boots are the perfect hiding place." He sheaths the blade in her boot. Careful not to cut the skin. Had it of been another student he might not have been so gentle.

Then out of no where he rips a concealed knife from the depths of his own boot, his body lunging at Isabelle. He stops, his blades tip presses into the flesh which protected her beating heart. The tip does not draw blood, but he makes sure there is enough pressure so that she can feel it. "Make sure you utilise the effect of a surprise, Isabelle. Make sure you strike true."

Stepping away, he pulls back the knife, once again twirling it between his fingers as he indicates towards the dummy impersonating Finn. "Show me what you've got. Poke a hole in him, like he had Annabelle."