“It’s not like you don’t feel emotions at all,” Eridan said, scoffing. “I can sense when you get annoyed, for example.”
Idhron looked at him flatly. “Your sensitivity to other people’s emotions is just unusually high. And it is not as though I do not feel emotions at all. My capacity for them is simply very limited, and the emotions I do feel are very fleeting and shallow, like mild annoyance. I am not capable of strong, lasting emotions that distract people like you. Now be quiet.” Idhron’s gaze became a little unfocused. “I am going to establish the bond now. Do not resist.”
Eridan did his best to bring his mental shields down and relax, but he still gasped as he felt Idhron slip inside his mind. It felt… strange. Invasive and intense, but weirdly good, too. He trembled as Idhron’s mental presence touched his pulsing telepathic core and wove itself around it. Oh. This felt absurdly pleasurable. Eridan could feel a golden thread start forming around his core, connecting their minds: the bond. No one had told Eridan bonds felt so good.
“Because they do not always do,” Idhron’s voice said in his head, startling him. “My training bond to my former Master did not feel like this. We were not so compatible.”
Eridan could sense that he didn’t consider that a flaw, as opposed to the bond between them, which was clearly flawed, in Idhron’s opinion.
Eridan rolled his eyes. For some weird reason, he felt a lot more relaxed around Castien Idhron now that he had him in his mind.
“It is the bond,” Idhron informed him, unprompted. “It provokes a false sense of ease and intimacy. I advise you not to trust that feeling.”
“Yes, our bond is horrible and disgusting—I get it,” Eridan told him. “It’s a pity you’ll have to live with it.”
“Don’t get cheeky with me, Eridan,” Idhron said before pulling out of his mind.
Eridan swallowed his disappointment, the feeling of ease and closeness disappearing.
He opened his eyes and was momentarily disoriented, looking at Idhron’s closed-off, icy exterior. Not that Idhron had felt warm in his mental landscape, but he definitely hadn’t felt cold, either. He had seemed more… approachable when they had communicated mentally. The man Eridan was looking at didn’t look approachable in the slightest.
“It is done,” Idhron said. He frowned. “Since your apprenticeship is probationary, you cannot be granted a residence in District Two yet. They are only for registered apprentices. But you cannot stay in the Outer District, either. It is too far and constantly fetching you would become tiresome very fast.” His lips thinned. “You will have to live here for now.”
Eridan blinked. “Here? You want me to live with you?”
“Master,” Idhron stated, his eyes narrowing.
“What?” Eridan said, confused.
“You will always address me as Master now. I have had enough of your impudence. And to answer your question, yes. You will stay here. There are more than enough rooms in my house for your presence not to be too bothersome.”
“I’m starting to wonder why you wanted an apprentice at all,” Eridan said with a humorless laugh. “If I’m nothing but an inconvenience to you.”
Idhron gave him a long look Eridan couldn’t read at all. “I am not an unreasonable man, Eridan,” he said at last. “Prove your worth to me, and you will not be an inconvenience.” He glanced at his watch. “I am departing for the Deniz Colony of the First Grand Clan in less than an hour. I will be gone for three or four days. Make yourself at home while I am gone.”
“You mean… You mean I can pick any room I want?”
Idhron paused and looked back at him.
Eridan suddenly felt awfully transparent. Well, he probably was, considering that the other man was a Class 7 telepath who had direct access to Eridan’s mind.
“You may choose any bedroom but mine,” Idhron said after a moment. His gaze swept over Eridan’s clothes. “And have my servant order you new clothes. Initiates’ robes are no longer suitable for you. Although you cannot yet wear apprentices’ robes, you will need a new set of clothes in neutral colors. My apprentice cannot look shabby.”
Eridan flushed, feeling a little humiliated. Although he took great care of his clothes, there was no hiding the fact that they were hand-me-downs from numerous other initiates that had worn them before him.
“All right, Master,” he said, swallowing his pride. It was difficult. His pride had always been one of his greatest flaws. Eridan didn’t even know why he was so proud. Sometimes he thought that his birth family might have been noble, though he hadn’t been able to confirm it. The information on the birth families of the initiates usually wasn’t included in their records, and Eridan only knew he had been a three-year-old when he was brought to Hronthar. He remembered next to nothing from his life before the Order and what little he could remember he didn’t trust, because it made little sense.