Istredd can tell right away this is going to be the source of Wilhelm's problem for a long time. It isn't his magic that is truly the problem, it is all the emotions around it, and the anxiety it is creating. He is very in tune with other people, especially in his own domain, so he is concerned when he can tell something has gone wrong.

Stregobor would have been vicious. With mage training, going gentle was never an option. Their patience only lasted so long and if you didn't succeed, you had a much worse fate to live through. He pushed and Istredd sometimes pushes too, leading him to remember who he didn't want to be. Lucifer taunted him once, and it hit the mark. You were robbed of a choice, mm? Why should they get one? Because you didn't? It worked in getting under his skin, and it's why he closes the space between them.

"It's alright, Wilhelm. Take a deep breath, in and out." Without thinking about it, he puts a hand on Wilhelm's shoulder, gentle, supportive. Sometimes Stregobor did that too, but it was manipulative, and Istredd is not that. "Look at me." He hopes that Wilhelm will do exactly that, blue eyes apologetic. "I'm sorry, it was my fault. I pushed you too fast." This is a deeper trauma than he thought and a deeper trigger. He shouldn't be pushing when it was this hard to get Wilhelm here.

"We'll get there. It's a process. We're going to do this the opposite way. You tell me when you want to try that again. And until you do, we'll keep doing our fire manipulation training." Because that is what they were doing. Wilhelm was manipulating fire that Istredd himself created, but he was doing it well. They still have a lot to learn there. And by putting the power of choice in Wilhelm's hands about when he feels ready, it makes it less likely he'll get back to this place.