Attunement is a form of temporary access to a Construct. It allows you to lock and unlock the Construct and to grant others similar temporary access. It does not however allow changes to the Construct, be they physical or related to permissions.

  Once Attunement is revoked all access is revoked, including access granted by the Attuned.

  ~ * ~

  The next morning Seb found himself woken up to the sound of banging on his door. Blinking in confusion he sat up, needing a moment to remember where he was and why someone would be knocking.

  "Anya? Give me a minu-"

  He cut off as she opened the door at his voice, giving her a wry grin as she barged in only to come to a halt a second later as she noticed he was shirtless.

  "Do you mind?" he asked, leaning over to grab his discarded shirt off the ground and pulling it over his head. "I would have gotten to the door in a moment."

  She shook her head and muttered something sounding suspiciously like a complaint that he'd barged in on her. "Sorry, just, we don't have any breakfast food or coffee."

  Seb sighed. "I knew we forgot something, why did it have to be coffee."

  Gesturing back at the door he waited for her to meet his eyes then pointed more clearly. "Pants. Then we talk."

  Giving her the moment to step back out and pull the door to he got up and pulled his pants back on before calling out to let her know she could come back in.

  "So no coffee, no breakfast," he picked back up. "And I'm going to guess you'd rather not eat in public and get stared at again."

  Her cheek was if anything more vibrant than the day before and her arm didn't look much better. She was wearing one of her new t-shirts, however it looked like she'd stuck with the same pants as yesterday.

  At her nod he tilted his head slightly. "So why didn't you just order us something? I know there are fast food places nearby if nothing else."

  She huffed in amusement and pulled her phone out, turning it to face him with an order already partly filled. "Because I don't know what you would want?"

  "You could have asked through the door," he muttered, adding a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich along with a coffee to the order before handing the phone back.

  "Thank you for breakfast," he finished, making sure to be clear that he truly did appreciate her thoughtfulness. "I'll meet you downstairs by the time food gets here?"

  ~ * ~

  True to his word Seb got cleaned up and dressed before heading downstairs just in time to answer the door and get their breakfast delivery.

  Joining Anya in the kitchen he divvied up the food then nearly burned his tongue on his first sip of coffee.

  "Car rental, swing by my place for clothing and food, swing by yours for food, run to the grocery store," he counted off what they needed to do on his fingers. "Anything else?"

  "I need makeup and we both need court clothing," she answered. "Unless you were right and have something suitable."

  "I hope I do, it'll save time. Are you up for makeup and formal wear today? We can probably wait until tomorrow and still have time if it needs fitting."

  "I-" she paused. "Maybe? You need to learn to meditate so you can gain enough control to have your Pattern registered."

  Nodding he considered. "So get my list done, see what time it is and how you're feeling?"

  "Sure."

  ~ * ~

  Getting back into the rented SUV after collecting a few more staples from Anya's apartment Seb looked over at her. She'd started out in just a t-shirt but despite the day being warm she'd pulled his hoodie back on as they left in the rental and kept the hood up the whole time they were in public.

  He'd suggested she buy something in her size yesterday only to mentally cut off the thought at the glare she leveled on him. Her opinion was clear when she'd followed up with a sense of possessiveness and offense at his suggestion.

  "We need a few more groceries I think? And then we have to drop stuff off so nothing goes bad. Maybe you can show me how to meditate after that?" he suggested, trying not to dwell on how she'd seemed to get stiffer the more she insisted on helping him collect and move things.

  She started to take a deep breath and winced, glaring at him as if daring him to comment. "That sounds like a good idea."

  ~ * ~

  Seb finished hanging up his suits, the food already put away and his other clothing still in bags. Anya had almost sounded disappointed that he had a handful of business suits that were at least as suitable for Court as anything they would find him last minute.

  Heading down into the Construct he found her sitting cross-legged in the meditation chamber, a small lantern-like object in front of her. At her gesture he closed the door then sank onto the mat facing her. There was a slight glow coming from the walls and floor, enough to see clearly but faint enough to not distract. Of course sitting face to face with her in a room where he doubted he, at 6'1, would be able to lie down flat on his back was its own source of both focus and distraction.

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  "Meditation?" he asked, his words seeming to startle her back into focus.

  "Meditation. I'm going to assume no one taught you anything based on what you've said. If some of this is familiar let me know."

  "They taught me how to accept a band, and how to reach out to form one. Other than that? The only time they mentioned anything was when they had me test what I could do, and they never explained."

  She frowned, shaking her head. "Right."

  "Quickly then. The Shallows, the Unawakened world that is, have almost no Energy density. Constructs have a bit more density, enough that Awakened stuff works."

  "Stuff?" he grinned.

  "Yes, stuff. If you want I can start explaining about Relics and how they work with individual Awakened, or integrated with Constructs, or I can get to Meditation?" she answered sharply before grinning.

  "Sorry. I will want to know eventually."

  "I know. We call the standard Construct density Deep Low. Then there are the Depths, the energy there gets more and more dense until someone too low level would die from the difference. So we stick to Depths that are near our level when we Dive," she paused as he went to interrupt. "Diving is exploring the depths, looking for Energy enriched materials and fighting the threats to improve."

  He couldn't help himself but interrupt at that point. "So like adventuring in dungeons?"

  "They aren't dungeons they're offshoot cave systems of the Depths that," she sighed. "Yes, dungeons."

  "Why didn't they tell me I could be an Adventurer?" he exclaimed before seeing the look on her face. "Sorry, later."

  She chuckled before continuing. "Leveling up is made up of two, well three, parts. First you have to absorb ambient Energy that is at your density or higher and focus on using it to strengthen yourself. Then when you have enough you," she paused and half shrugged. "You compress it until you level up. You'll know when you're ready to do so because you'll feel full of energy."

  "And the third part?"

  "The third part isn't actually needed. The more effort you put in before leveling up, fighting and training if you're a combatant, doing Seer things if you're a seer, Engineer things, Crafter things…" she trailed off, making it clear there were other options. "More effort usually means you take a bit longer to get to the point of feeling full, and tends to make the compression more efficient."

  "So like exercise. If you put effort in then you get better results?" he asked.

  "Exactly," she answered before continuing. "Meditation has two purposes as well, first to focus the ambient Energy in preparation to level up and second to refill your Energy reserves more quickly if you've been using them."

  "Using them?"

  "I don't know how others, especially non-combatants, do but I was shown how to focus and manipulate my Energy to cover my fists and feet, for extra impact," she answered.

  Seb saw her blink and her mouth start to drop open in surprise. "Anya?"

  "I completely forgot," she muttered. "I didn't even think to use Energy against Rios. I could have-"

  "Would it have made a difference?" he asked.

  "Maybe a bit, the guard instructors said I had potential in using Energy that way. But he was so strong that," she paused and shook her head. "No, he was strong enough it probably wouldn't have mattered. I just feel stupid for not thinking of it."

  "You weren't exactly expecting to get into a fight, especially not one that seemed so one-sided." He reached out to grab her hand for a brief squeeze and smiled. "And we won, remember?"

  She shook her head and shoulders, pulling herself out of the moment. "We did."

  "Now this," she gestured at the lantern between them, "is a Censer. I got it from the Vault. I also got a bit of crystallized second level Energy that I put inside it. When I activate the Censer it will break down the crystal and fill the room until it reaches that density. The room is shielded so the Energy will be contained. There's only enough for a few minutes at the density but that should be plenty for you."

  "For me to?"

  "I'm going to walk you through meditating and you're going to draw as much in as you can so you can level up once," she answered. "Well technically you'll only be at what we call Mid and not at Level 1, but it will be enough for you to have better conscious control of your Energy. Mid isn't a real level up but it is the point where you get control and can register your pattern, interact with Constructs and Relics and even create an Everyday Husk."

  "War Husks are after you hit level 1," she added in before he got the chance to ask.

  Nodding he looked from her to the Censer and back. "What do I do."

  He saw her fiddle with the Censer and a moment later felt the world around him pressing in. It wasn't comfortable but it wasn't painful either, he could see her wince slightly as well.

  "I didn't think about how it would feel without a Husk, or with these bruises," she grumbled the squared her shoulders. "Close your eyes and focus on your breathing."

  Seb let his eyes fall shut, following her guidance to take steady breaths and focus on the feeling of pressure. With her help he was able to feel it flow with his breath, at first sinking in slowly then speeding up as he managed to find the trick of it. He initially thought he already was full then realized that must be his Energy reserves when he felt the Energy sinking into every aspect of who he was.

  ~ * ~

  Anya watched as Seb started to meditate. He'd caught on surprisingly fast, not quite as fast as she had a bit over two years ago when she finally was able to try, but fast all the same. She could feel the Energy currents as he pulled, the Censer more than capable of keeping up with his needs.

  When he started to tense she spoke back up, just loud enough for him to hear. "Do you feel full?"

  At his nod she continued. "Focus on the feeling of the Energy inside you. It fills you and flows through every part of who you are. Press down on the Energy, push it against your reserves, squeeze it until it becomes a new layer around them."

  She saw his forehead crease, his breath starting to catch. "Don't forget your breathing. Calm and steady. You'll know when you've compressed by the-"

  She imagined she heard as much as felt the slight pop as his features relaxed, the Energy around them stirring violently for a moment before his eyes opened. She took an instant to close her own eyes and pull, draining the remaining level 2 energy from the room. It wouldn't have much impact since she was nearly level 4, but better than letting it go to waste, but Seb would be better served by training before pushing further.

  She opened her eyes to see him looking around distractedly. "Seb?"

  "Huh?" he blinked before focusing on her. "Sorry. There's just more details than before."

  It took her a moment to remember he'd said he could see Energy Patterns everywhere in the Holding. "Ah. More sensitivity would make sense. Try forming a band with me, see if-"

  She felt his attempt before she even finished speaking. - I take it it's easier now?

  Much. I knew what to do before but had to struggle. Now I just had to think about reaching out and it happened.

  Physical proximity makes it easier too, she sent back.

  So now I can make a Husk?

  Yes, but no. It takes several days so we should probably wait until after the verdict, especially when we have other things to do first.

  She could feel his disappointed acceptance as he answered. That makes sense. What now?

  She pulled out her phone, turning it to show him the time. Now we have dinner and relax. You were meditating for almost 3 hours.

  Wait, what? It felt like only a few minutes.

  Higher density Energy will do that, especially while learning, she explained.

  His stomach took that moment to chime in as well and he laughed. I guess dinner is a good idea.

  Anya watched Seb stand before accepting his hand up. I'll put the Censer back into the Vault and meet you in the kitchen.

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