[Training Ground] The Jester becomes the Prince [Simon]

Volya Nikolov had been in this part of the council many a time -- from being trained as a Discipulus to training others as a Zealot, and more recently as the Hor Elemental pursued his Ice Elemental Second Affinity. He stood in the center of the circular room which was bare except for the seal of the council emblazoned on the wall behind him. He was to meet Simon Ainsworth, an Ice Elemental Zealot, for training. Volya was a pretty quick study in his own element, but doing a different element than his, especially one that was considered one of the most powerful in the council was exhausting and require so much more effort than his own element. Even being pretty experience, he still felt like he had to harden himself to even take on the Garth Element.

The door opened and a tall red-headed man walked in, freckles dotting his deceivingly youthful face. "I'm early, Zealot Ainsworth... I do hope that's alright." the Hor Elemental offered in apology to Simon. "I do not mean to take you away from your charges, but I believe you are the best man for training in the Garth Element. Besides Tannenbaum... Of course." he added that quickly in at the end, as to not forget who his superior was.

Simon's head was everywhere today. Everywhere but where it needed to be, that is. He felt like he was running late - for some reason he seemed to think it was a whole hour earlier than it was. Perhaps it was because he'd woken up an hour late; it would make sense with the off kilterness that riddled his day. His stomach was growling as he shoved a pastry in his mouth. The redhead had missed lunch because he was late to a discipuli training, and he'd barely gotten any breakfast because he'd had a meeting with one of his clients. It was a really good season for traditional muggle paintings, it seemed. Simon really couldn't keep them supplied in his shop, he'd kept having to take trips to the muggle world to try to haggle with vendors about pricing. The forty year old still didn't understand the ratio of muggle money to wizarding money, but he was getting there slowly.

Luckily, his head seemed to be getting centered as he walked through Inverness. He was due at the training grounds in a few minutes to train with none other than Volya Nikolov, a younger Hor elemental that seemed more than eager to learn his second affinity. Simon was rather flattered when he got the request from the younger elemental to train - he'd only ever trained discipuli, although he supposed training second affinities wasn't very different. They were both starting from the ground up. Simon smiled at the man once he entered the grounds, nodding briefly. "Oh, it's quite alright, don't apologize! You haven't taken me away from anything. I was actually quite flattered to receive your request, Mr. Nikolov. I must say, it's not every day that someone chooses you to be their teacher." He chuckled. "And please, call me Simon. Where are you at in your Garth training?"

"I'm doing primarily book work at the moment, memorizing the garth-specific runes and the like." He smiled briefly to the Zealot before him, "You know as well as i do, that practicing out-of-element magic by yourself is not only dangerous but potentially lethal." He crossed the floor to meet the Garth Zealot, grasping his hands together. "It's nice to finally meet you properly by the way. I know we've passed each other in the council halls, but priorities have gotten in the way, I think?" He offered as a question, not wanting to put words in the Zealot's mouth.

The Hor's hands dropped from the Garth's own, and he straightened, assuming somewhat of a professional stance, and distancing himself once again from the older Zealot. His eyes roved the training room. He'd picked this one specifically because it wasn't filled with much, and couldn't be harmed much by either of their elements. He'd paid special attention in making sure the tapestry was water-proof, and couldn't potentially be frozen by the Garth spells.

"What shall we start with, Simon?" He used the man's first name cautiously, as if he wasn't accustomed to calling people by their first names. He really wasn't, as his students usually called him Professor Nikolov and he called them by their last names.