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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:45:10 GMT -6
Aster didn't stay away for very long, returning almost immediately to give him a treat. He felt that it was a little too early to begin linking the two tricks in sequence, when Aciel didn't even have the concept of 'stay' down yet. Best to teach him the trick on its own a little more before they tried anything more complicated.
"Stay," he said again. Aciel took a hesitant half step in his direction when Aster moved backwards, but Aster repeated the command and held up his arms again, as if he were moving to block Aciel. Aciel got the hint and stayed where he was.
Aster went a little further than he had last time, but not very much so, and returned just as quickly. “Good boy,” he said, and fed Aciel another treat.
The third time he did it, Aciel didn’t try to move again, so Aster gained some confidence and moved out even further.
(15)
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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:45:26 GMT -6
He could see that Aciel was tempted, but Aster somehow managed to pin the colt to where he was standing through his gaze and, as far as anyone could tell, sheer force of will. But they managed, somehow, and Aster gave him another treat for his hard work. Well, if you could call staying in one place ‘hard work’, anyway.
But hey, to a creature this young, who didn’t understand much of anything, maybe it was work. It was definitely work for Aster, anyway.
They got through a couple more tries without much hassle, and Aster was beginning to be able to go a fair distance, but a different issue soon presented itself: boredom. Rather than trying to come to Aster to get the treat in advance, Aciel was now trying to wander off elsewhere. “Ah ah,” Aster said, as the colt took one step out towards something he had presumably seen.
(16)
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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:46:06 GMT -6
The sudden sound made Aciel stop in his tracks, to Aster's relief. He repeated the command once more. “Stay,” he said. He watched Aciel carefully for any sign of movement, and when Aciel tried again to walk off, Aster said, “No. Stay.”
The rebuke did the trick, and Aciel stayed. When Aster gave Aciel the reward this time, he wondered if Aciel had done that because he hadn’t understood the fundamental principle behind the trick, that it wasn’t just that he couldn’t come towards Aster, but that he couldn’t move from his spot at all.
Their next few attempts did seem to bear out this hypothesis. Aciel didn’t try to move toward Aster anymore, but sometimes showed interest in wandering in other directions. Aster stopped him with a repeat of the command, or occasionally another ‘no’, and fortunately that was enough. They didn’t have any big accidents of disobedience.
(17)
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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:46:55 GMT -6
It seemed, at least, that some of the things that Aster had heard said about the lab-made creatures in these parts were true. A good deal of them were uncommonly eager to please, at least to his eye. Aster wouldn’t have said that he and Aciel were well acquainted, and thus far, Aster’s only real appeal to the colt must have been the presence of treats, but nevertheless, Aciel did seem to want to do well.
Eventually, after a few more corrections, Aciel seemed to have the idea of ‘stay’ down, so Aster decided he may as well begin trying it in conjunction with ‘come’, which had thus far been abandoned so they could establish ‘stay’ first. By now, he wondered if Aciel even remembered the first word. “Aciel, stay,” Aster said, which he could now do without much concern. Walking away, he stopped a little distance before turning and saying, “Come!”
(18)
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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:47:08 GMT -6
To help remind the colt, Aster was holding out a treat, but even so, Aciel hesitated. Maybe it did look familiar, but thus far, Aster had always walked back to him at the end of ‘stay’ to give him a treat, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that he was confused now. Aster didn’t know how smart he was, but maybe Aciel even suspected something like a trick on Aster’s part.
Aster decided that the best course of action was just to repeat the command and be patient. Eventually, this paid off, and Aciel took a tentative step forward. When Aster didn’t rebuke him, he grew bolder, and took another few steps. In this halting manner, eventually he reached Aster’s side, and was allowed to take the treat. “Good boy,” Aster said.
When Aciel had finished eating, Aster ordered him to stay again, then moved away. “Come,” he said.
(19)
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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:47:24 GMT -6
This time, Aciel didn’t hesitate very long at all. His last attempt having worked out better than he had expected, now he was eager to repeat it, and trotted to Aster’s side with something like confidence. Or maybe he was just remembering that ‘come’ was a thing that he’d learned too, in the far bygone era of maybe an hour ago, and probably not even that much time.
It was a lot easier to teach ‘come’ now that Aster could get Aciel to ‘stay’ though, mostly because now he had a means to stop Aciel if Aciel tried to follow, or perform the command prematurely. That didn’t stop Aciel from trying, of course. At one point, after Aster had stopped walking away but before he had called out ‘come’, Aciel began moving towards him anyway, and Aster had to hurriedly repeat ‘stay’ to stop him. Aciel stopped, but it looked like every inch of him was straining to go.
(20)
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Post by Noa on May 28, 2019 14:47:50 GMT -6
(End: Come, Stay)
To reinforce the idea that Aciel needed to stay until Aster called him, however, Aster waited as long as he dared before calling out the command. This wasn’t very long, but it was a wait, and only after he called out the command did Aster hold out the treat.
In their subsequent attempts, he repeated this, introducing a waiting period, and not letting Aciel move until Aster had called for him. It took some repeating, but eventually Aciel seemed to finally grasp the concept that he had to wait for the specific word. By the end of the session, Aster was beginning to feel quite tired himself.
“Well, you get the idea,” Aster said to the colt, watching Aciel eat out of his hand. And in the process, he hoped he had acclimated Aciel somewhat to his presence too. Aciel certainly didn’t seem shy, or at least not anymore, not when there was food in play… And Aster had managed, against all odds, not to spook him too badly.
(21) <Count to here>
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