Hadama started to nod at Hotaru's courteous question, but then the air was suddenly far colder than he had experienced since enrolling at the Academy and gaining its resistance. He had never encountered a breath snatch before, and he found the experience extremely unpleasant. Stoically, the mermanta lowered himself in the waves so that his nose and mouth were protected and 'breathed' in the chill water of the bay to soothe his need for oxygen while he listened to the explanations and instructions of their teacher.
He turned his head to regard Evie with a wordless question in emerald eyes at the proposed compelling, discomforted at the thought but trusting his friend to know how far to trust the headmistress. When she acquiesced he made no protest - but he watched Hotaru with silent intensity as the battle of wills commenced to ensure no harm would come to the red haired lady.
He watched Evie's fight against the command, silently lending her his support as she tried her best. It was disquieting to see her slow collapse, but once the challenge was over she recovered quickly and he was reassured. When Hotaru stepped over to the dock he considered her hand for a moment before rising far enough out of the water to take it, gently but firmly in his own webbed fingers.
It was not a command that he had expected, but he was not normally inclined towards song and that made the compulsion easier to resist at first. His jaw clenched, teeth locking stubbornly against the urge to open his mouth and let the first few notes escape. The headache came on swiftly, and though his expression remained dignified a deep furrow of pain appeared between his brows as the pain worsened and his vision grew dark.
In the end he couldn't entirely withstand the force of Hotaru's magic, and a deep basso note emerged from his closed lips as he hummed the first few bars of a melancholy slow jig through the pain of his resistance.
He turned his head to regard Evie with a wordless question in emerald eyes at the proposed compelling, discomforted at the thought but trusting his friend to know how far to trust the headmistress. When she acquiesced he made no protest - but he watched Hotaru with silent intensity as the battle of wills commenced to ensure no harm would come to the red haired lady.
He watched Evie's fight against the command, silently lending her his support as she tried her best. It was disquieting to see her slow collapse, but once the challenge was over she recovered quickly and he was reassured. When Hotaru stepped over to the dock he considered her hand for a moment before rising far enough out of the water to take it, gently but firmly in his own webbed fingers.
It was not a command that he had expected, but he was not normally inclined towards song and that made the compulsion easier to resist at first. His jaw clenched, teeth locking stubbornly against the urge to open his mouth and let the first few notes escape. The headache came on swiftly, and though his expression remained dignified a deep furrow of pain appeared between his brows as the pain worsened and his vision grew dark.
In the end he couldn't entirely withstand the force of Hotaru's magic, and a deep basso note emerged from his closed lips as he hummed the first few bars of a melancholy slow jig through the pain of his resistance.
