As Stephen watched Theo work at summoning his weapon and drank his tea, he couldn't help but remember his own struggles at doing the very same exercise years before. But with each failure, it was clear that Theo was working out the problem and inching closer to success. It made perfect sense. Theo had been born with magic and learned magic as he grew. It had been a part of his worldview for his entire life. Stephen, on the other hand, had regarded the idea of Spirit as nothing more than New Age bullshit until he'd had no choice but accept it as truth.
So he couldn't help but feel a surge of pride when Theo manifested a whip of blue energy, and then proceeded to knock down one of the practice dummies. He jumped to his feet. "Excellent!" he said with a smile that reached his eyes. "Good job."