"What was that supposed to do?" Pen could get glimpses of the energy flow, and that was fascinating, because it seemed like Caleb was just pulling it out of thin air, or his apparently normal human self, and everything Pen knows about how things should work suggests that isn't possible.

"Let me try a basic exercise." He had grabbed a bit of twine, and held it up. "Typically I have had students practice cutting twine or thread. Safer than lighting candles, but a similar principle, magically speaking." He held his fingers in the middle of the length, pinching, and drawing on Des's chaos to push things downhill, towards greater disorder.

The power was slippery, and had to coax out. It slipped away, Pen mentally grabbed it back, and the piece of twine didn't so much cut as puff into fluff.

"That's a better outcome than some. It all stayed in the twine."

And a mental check with Desdemona told him that she was going to need him to keep trying, because the chaos would otherwise build up.