Okay, he thinks they need to do this in two parts, the getting the name thing down, and getting him an off switch. Once both exist they seem pretty easy to combine. So - it manifests as hearing. And is based around how well Edward can read people.

Well, Blair doesn't know about Edward, but Blair sure notices when people say his name, or occasionally syllables that are close to his name. Just a - psychological thing that's built into one's brain. Recognizing important syllables that coincide with oneself. Since Edward's power manifests as hearing, doesn't it make sense for it to carry over to it?

Good, that's already mostly-there, then. Other part first, he supposes.

How does his tuning out work, what are the specifics of it?

"I was very good at reading people, and you don't have to try to do that. It's automatic, all on a lower level. If you can hear someone you know their tone, if you can see them you can read their expression."

"That was more rhetoric," he says out loud.

It's all about thought processes, letting yourself be constrained by rules that aren't actually rules is a great way to stunt yourself. So if he acknowledges that it doesn't work by any other senses, and admits that it doesn't need to, he's (theoretically) a few steps closer to actually removing the rules.

Remember, Edward, this is magic. It works by questionable logic anyway, the trick is harnessing the questionable logic and bending it to your will for convenience.




He has to occasionally stop and think What would Addy do, but with his power and experience working with her, his model of her is fairly accurate. Not quite as good as actually having her available, but decent enough to work for their purposes. Blair is kinder than Addy would be, but he definitely displays a stubborn streak. As long as Edward's willing to humor him, he's going to be trying to improve his power. Because damn it, Edward might need or want its improvements one day, and if he ever does, it should be available to him.

But it's up to Edward to make any real progress.

Edward mopes his way through the entire process; "humoring him" is definitely the operative motive.

...But one day he manages to stop listening to Blair. And then smiles enigmatically while Blair continues his "not bothering to talk aloud" method of teaching.

"... Did you just figure out how to stop listening to me," he guesses, after getting no response from Edward about his current train of thought at all.

"Clearly! But we're not done yet, we still need to make sure you'll still catch your name -"

And so it begins again. This time he speaks aloud.

Excellent.

(Blair is so happy about this, he keeps resisting the urge to actually dance. Helping out allies! BEST THING!)

That is about the only thing Edward wanted to improve, though, and unlike some other potential magic teachers this actually matters to Blair. So, once they have the second breakthrough, Blair calls it quits and will leave Edward in peace.

Well, after he catches up with the other Cullens. There was some time he spent with them while Edward was away for various reasons, but that's not quite the same as actively focusing on them.

Esme gets help with home improvements; he helps repaint a room and fix siding and then solicits his power to find her a good person to sell the specific type of curtains that go with the style in the bedroom without being too much. Carlisle gets updates on Yvette's progress in learning all of the everything (she is learning a lot of everything, but is keeping away from getting a medical degree until her control's better) and how her control's doing (it hasn't wavered once), and then cheerily talks morality and the value of people and his general philosophy with him. He is not a fan of arbitrary moral constructs, but definitely agrees that people are incredibly important and all deserve the best chance they can get if it doesn't come at the cost of someone else. If it does - well, that gets more complicated. But generally Blair likes to minimize the hurt in the world. Rosalie gets checked on, and then asked if she'd like custom-made jewelry (his sister is planning to practice making jewelry she designs instead of just hunks of metal or endless copies) or anything pretty from foreign places when he inevitably travels around the world. He talks music with Edward, talks about the trends occurring in England and France and promising to get Edward this record while he's over there that's been troublesome to find in the United States.

If he were trying to be manipulative and win them over, this behavior might be annoying, but he's distinctly not. He sincerely likes interacting with them, he likes getting them things they like, likes being friendly. No strings attached.

Their cousin is fond of them too.

But eventually, it's time for him to depart. Back to Europe! He gives Yvette descriptions of the jewelry Rosalie would like and buys appropriate records for mailing.

Then, he's got a clear schedule. He finds and pokes Addy (his power is still improving, but more slowly) and informs her that he's probably just going to travel around everywhere and show up periodically to poke her. She's easy to find, anyway. Well, for him. And then he's off again.

He hasn't learned Norwegian yet, and he thinks he can start getting his power to lead him to people he can help. Not in overtly vampiric ways, but helping a troubled family with a bit of well placed money and help finding a job, sitting down and talking to someone that's convinced life is meaningless and no one cares - the right person in the right place can make all the difference to one person. Besides, it's practice with his power. And nice. Efficiency!

Yvette's the one with the regular address. Well - a regular PO box. Same difference. So she's the one that gets mail from the Cullens and hears about news. Not that there's usually much to say.

There is another Cullen, just two years after the last new addition. His name is Emmett and Edward would like to convey his thanks to Blair for the off-switch because he and Rosalie would otherwise be difficult to be near.