The inside is incredibly cliched, the walls are lined with stacks of boxes, with a few closer to the centre of the room. The lighting is mostly dim, with the exception of a bright pool in which the gang appear to be gathered. They appear to be in the middle of a business deal of some kind.

Maelstrom is in the very centre, looking unimpressed, and fiddling with his water-gun. He looks like he might be running out of patience.

"Ooh, this looks like something I'd be interested in interrupting," Glam whispers. "Let's zoom in, see if we can make anything out."

They zoom in.

There's an open crate that contains several weapons - hard to tell even with the zoom but they might be Tinker-tech, even if that's somewhat pointless with the maintenance requirements.

It's not clear which way the deal is going, whether Maelstrom is buyer or seller, but either way he's getting increasingly irritable. He pushes himself up from the metal box he's been sitting on and hefts his water-gun menacingly.

"Innnteresting... I think I'm safe to start streaming now," they say, five seconds after they already started streaming.

Silently, tall broad dark knights in black horses with glowing red eyes start appearing one by one around the warehouse. They have a variety of weapons—lances, swords, maces, hammers—and all await some form of signal.

"Who's ready for some action?" they whisper into the camera as they wait for an appropriately dramatic moment to barge in.

Almost on cue, Maelstrom's last straw snaps almost audibly. The person he's dealing with gets doused in water, and jerks in a way that doesn't seem voluntary.

"It's showtime."

The knights break into the warehouse through the doors, knocking guards unconscious where necessary with a spearbutt or similar, screaming war cries.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Maelstrom snarls, pivoting.

There's a moment of scrambling chaos before anyone can manage a response, but they do respond.

The man Maelstrom has soaked is now being used as an obviously reluctant shield between him and the knights. Maelstrom is moving backwards, although it looks far more like an attempt to acquire the high ground than an actual retreat.

"Super-soaker! So nice to see you again today, what a delightful surprise," say a bunch of loudspeakers hidden here and there. "I wasn't expecting you at all."

The knights try to injure but not too severely, using the blunt parts of their weapons and shields and ramming against their opponents and the crates surrounding them. There are easily over twenty knights there.

"Glam," he growls. "Why don't you come out and face me, hero? Or you gonna hide behind your knights like a coward?"

He takes aim and douses one of the knights in water.

"Hydrophobic coating," Glam's voice chirps from the loudspeakers as the water slides off the knights harmlessly without sticking. "But who's to say I'm hiding behind the knights?" Just then one of the knights removes its helmet to show Glam's head and mask.

"How original," Maelstrom comments, seeming almost blithe - you don't get to be a successful villain without being good at concealing your real emotions. "And what can I do for you today? This is a perfectly amicable business meeting."

"Oh sure," Glam says, the voice now coming from the unhelmeted knight. "But it also happens to be illegal. Now I just need to find the way to humiliate you the most between now and when the Protectorate arrives to bust your butt."

What's visible of Maelstrom's face curves into what could almost be a charming smile. "Well. I suppose I can't argue with hydrophobic coating. I suppose this is where things start to heat up?"

He kicks the box he'd been leaning against earlier. One of the metal sides flops down...

Nothing happens, except the faintest firelike glow.

The knights all stop moving to look at the box. "...yes, I'm waiting," says Glam-knight.

Maelstrom snarls wordlessly, and kicks the box harder, hissing out a threat.

His kick is hard enough to upset the box.

What is effectively a ball of flames darts out, somehow managing to be trembling.

Maelstrom hefts his gun, an obvious threat. "I'm waiting."

The fire seems to flinch away from Maelstrom and his gun, but still flares up, catching on a nearby wooden box - the box, in fact, that that pile of weapons is in.

...that's not a power or a weapon that's a person. "Hey super-soaker! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" says Glam-knight—

—just as a different knight charges straight for Maelstrom from behind.

A third knight does its best to get that box of weapons out of there because yikes while a fourth reaches for the ball of flames saying "Run away run away we won't let him hurt you" in a hurried whisper.

Maelstrom ducks sideways away from the knight coming at his back, snatching a crowbar from the ground as the man he'd soaked earlier lurches towards the knight, movements not entirely coordinated, but coordinated enough to at least cause a slight inconvenience.

Maelstrom doesn't look pleased by the fact that he's being forced to take more mundane methods of self-defence, but he's not bad at it, and aims for the Glam-knight.

The flames withdraw into themselves slightly, skittering away. "Can'tcan'tcan't," whispers out from it.

Glam was not expecting there to be innocents to rescue. But they're adaptable, they can deal with that. The knight closest to the ball of fire grabs it—whether they're fireproof or not depends on what other people's expectations shake out to be, here, Glam didn't add that to the initial design, but it doesn't matter much, the knights are not people. So that one starts galloping away.

(Most of the knights are dealing with the non-Maelstrom people present in the building but there are currently three engaging the villain and distracting him.)

He's managing to fend them off for now, but they're definitely taking all of his attention.

The ball of flames goes still when it's grabbed, tries to withdraw smaller, to cool, as if to stop the knight carrying it being burned.

That's heartbreaking.

The knight gallops for a few minutes through streets and back alleys until it stops at a nondescript one. It looks around a couple of times then dismounts, and the horse promptly disappears. A length of rope falls from the roof and the knight holds onto it, and starts getting pulled up.

The knight's rescuee is, somehow, trembling against the knight, continuing to try and keep as still as possible. (Be good, be good, be good.)

They reach the roof where a number of computers and screens showing various views of the ongoing battle (the Protectorate heroes seem to have arrived) surround Glam. The knight deposits the ball of fire on the ground then promptly vanishes.

Glam looks at it and conjures a copy of themself who floats over to the ball. "Shh, shh, you're fine, no one's gonna hurt you," they say, trying to be soothing. They don't get close enough that they could be interpreted as invading their personal space. "You're safe here, you won't hurt anyone—" They conjure a lighter and light it up and put one hand on the fire. "See? Fireproof. It's fine, it's alright."

It's still shaking, the flames curled in on themselves. It doesn't exactly relax when Glam demonstrates their fireproofness, but it manages to seem slightly less tense. "I-I-"

"I'm not gonna hurt you," they repeat, and sit cross-legged in the air. "I'm Glam. Do you have a name?"

"I- I think someone called me- Nova?"

"And do you want to keep that name or would you rather have a different one?"

The flames shift in an impression of a shrug. "I- whatever you want s'fine-" There's a pause, like the flames are searching for an appropriate title for Glam.

...

(Maybe the knights are roughing Malestrom up a bit more than strictly necessary right now.)

"You can just call me Glam," they say. "Do you eat? Sleep?"

"...need fuel, sometimes." Flinch, hurried: "Can-can do without?"

Pauses. "What's sleep?"

"—sleep is a thing some people do where they spend several hours unconscious while their bodies and brains do various repair-type things. Most people need that in order to stay alive but some people with powers don't.

"Do you need any particular type of fuel?"

"O-oh. I- don't think I need to?"

"I- wood? But- f'it burns..."

"Okay, stuff that burns, I can get that for you. Are you—for lack of a better word—hungry right now, or can it wait 'til we arrest that—person?"

"C'n wait."

"Okay. Is there anything else I can do? A cushion, a TV, a book..."

There's a moment of still, confused, silence. "M'fine, thank you, Glam." And the flames curl a little smaller and just rest.

"Okay. If you need anything just tell me." That copy disappears and the original resumes paying their full attention to the fight.

The ball of flames stays where they left it, although does seem to be paying attention to them and what they're doing.

They seem to be watching the fight from various angles—the various knights, one screen for every two to four of them, and cameras in various corners looking at the fight as a whole, and one camera dedicated to a copy of themself that's hanging by a window and providing commentary. They're not doing anything other than watching, apparently, but every now and then a screen switches to a different view after no apparent action.

Nova moves a little closer, trying for as much stealth as a ball of fire can. He's fairly sure that Glam is sort-of like Maelstrom now - one of the other people with powers. But not broken like his.

Glam does not evince having noticed him. The fight seems to be going pretty poorly for Maelstrom—most of his gang has been captured and he's badly outnumbered. It's just a matter of whether he'll want to fight until the end or give up before that. Regardless, his image is pretty much ruined.

Maelstrom has pride. But he also has a sense of self-preservation. And he knows when the odds are stacked against him. He gives up (for now).

There's almost palatable confusion from Nova at Maelstrom's surrender.

Glam visibly relaxes when that happens. The knights vanish one by one and the Glam-copy that's pretending to be the real one floats in from the main door and makes a witty remark.

Maelstrom may have let himself be arrested, but he's not above grandstanding, or throwing threats at Glam - he's a supervillain after all, it would just be poor showing to not do so after being arrested.

Nova flinches at what he's saying, even if it isn't directed at him (too many threats have been, and Maelstrom's always followed through before).

Glam-on-TV seems to find this hilarious and points out that Maelstrom is not in much of a position to threaten anyone. Then they declare their job done, wink at the heroes, and disappear in a flash of light (presumably to pretend this is teleportation or some such), only to reappear near the window where their video equipment is waiting for them. "So I hope you enjoyed this episode of 'Glam kicks butt, takes name, and is generally awesome'. See you next time!"

And then all the video rig and computers (except for one laptop) disappear and Glam sighs and relaxes even further. They turn around to look at Nova and beam. "That jerk is never gonna touch you again."

He's still and silent, trying to understand that. "M'I yours now?"

"—no. No, you're yours, you can do—whatever you want. That—may be scary, I can help you start out, but you don't belong to anyone else."

"But- he- he said-" Nova's trembling again (if he ever actually stopped).

The flames wrap over and around one another. "don't want to hurt anyone else."

Oh no the poor baby ahhh—

"You don't need to hurt anyone else," they say softly. "And you don't need him to not hurt anyone else. You're okay now, everyone else will be okay now."

The flames settle some, not necessarily believing what Glam says, but reassured a little. "thank you."

"We can figure out a way for your fire not to hurt anyone—like I showed you before, see?" Another lighter to show how fireproof their suit is. "Fire won't harm me, this suit protects me, and we can probably arrange something like that for you."

He flickers sideways and then back (something approximating excitement?) "I- you- don't have to. I can- I'll be better?"

"I want to," they assert. "Can you carry things, create limbs, anything like that?"

He's still for a moment. "I- never tried- He- wouldn't have liked-"

"You know, I hate him a lot more than I did an hour ago."

Nova flinches inwards. "I- m'sorry?"

"—no, no, it's not your fault, I hate him for what he did to you. No one should treat other people the way he did you. You matter, the things you want matter, your happiness and safety and comfort matter."

"...oh." Nova sounds confused and lost by that. "I- as you say?"

Good enough.

"So, do you wanna try holding something?" They produce various balls and cubes and other small objects.

"O-okay?" Nova agrees, not entirely surely.

There's a pause, and he manages to form something approximating a hand.

"Oh that's awesome! Can you use that to grab something?"

He reaches for one of the cubes Glam produced, and hesitates.

"What if I can't?"

Aaaaahhhh they should've punched Maelstrom more.

"It's alright if you can't, we'll figure out some other way for you to interact with stuff that works better. Or we won't, if you'd rather, it's up to you."

Nova carefully plucks the cube up. He manages to keep it in his hand for fifteen seconds. Then is slips through the flames.

The hand-shape abruptly vanishes back into the main ball.

"That was awesome! Congratulations!"

"...it was?" (Did the flames just change colour slightly?)

"Yeah! And it was your first try, too, you did really good."

The flames visibly brighten before Nova forces himself back dimmer. "Thank you," he says.

The hand reforms and he tries again, managing to hold it for a little longer.

"That's really awesome," they say, a huge grin on their emoji face.

Nova flickers sideways and then back, managing to convey shy gratitude for the praise. He'll keep practicing for a little while, fairly easily managing to get it up to a minute. After the first few occasions, the hand doesn't vanish when the cube drops through it, just picks it back up.

"What does it feel like when the cube goes through? Do you think it's a concentration and practice thing or something about your power?"

Nova thinks about it. Picks up the cube again and let's it slide through his hand. "Mm. I- mostly concentration and practice? Feels like it might still be- limited, but can get longer?"

They nod several times. "That's really cool. We could totally figure out a way for you to do—whatever you liked, hold things and interact with anything."

There's that slight change in colour again, accompanied by the shy flickering sideways dance. "Really?" he sounds almost hopeful.

"Of course!"

The flames brighten again. "Thank you!"

"I wonder if you can get other limbs than hands..."

He's still for a moment, flames dimming, more concentration than anything else. Then a singular boot shape appears underneath him.

They giggle. "That's really cool."

That little flickering change of colour is definitely Nova's equivalent of blushing. (These interactions are almost certainly the first time he's been praised for anything.)

He seems to consider Glam for a moment, and then forms a second boot-shape. Although both flicker out about thirty seconds later - two is apparently harder to maintain than one.

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure with enough practice you'll be able to get all of those working with barely any effort. Then we can make you a fireproof suit that fits all your new limbs."

He flickers shyly again, but instead of immediately trying again sort of curls around himself. (He looks, perhaps, a little wanner than he did before they started this experiment.)

"—are you okay?"

"Yes?" he says, immediate and reflexively, then pauses. Maybe...

"Could use some...fuel? F'that's alright?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure." Copy appears. "I'll grab you something right quick. You said wood, right? Would coal be better or worse?"

"...coal? I- don't- don't know what coal is?"

Blink. "It's—it's a generic name for a mineral or plant-based thing that usually burns better than wood and is often used for fire-related things."

"O-Oh. I- I don't know if it- Whatever's easiest?"

"I'm gonna get some of both and you can see what you like best."

Off goes copy.

"I- thank you- you don't have to? Can get by on paper..."

"It's not too expensive, and if you like it better then that's good, right?"

"...I-Yes. I- thank you. Thankyouthankyou."

Beam. "It's no problem. My copy will be back in a few minutes."

Nova brightens again (his equivalent of a smile?). He doesn't, immediately, have anything else to say.

Glam always has stuff to say.

"So... how'd Maelstrom get you?"

Nova flinches slightly. "I- he...found me?"

"We don't have to talk about this if you'd rather we didn't," they hastily add.

There's an impression of a shrug. "Don't- don't mind? I just- don't know. Remember? Much- anything before that?"

"—oh." That's horrible. "So you don't have anywhere to—return to? Do you have anywhere you want to go?"

"Nowhere," he agrees. Thinks about the second question. "I- don't know. Only really...let out if He wanted me to...do something."

"...okay. So I have a couple of options and... I'm afraid they're the only really, uh, feasible ones."

"I- that's- that's fine? Whatever you think best?"

Nod. "So option one is living with me, at least until you get your feet under you—uh, pun unintended. Option two is getting help from the heroes."

"...heroes? I- He said they'd- l-lock me up. Because I'm- dangerous. ...but I don't want to- be an inconvenience? I- Whatever's easiest?"

"...what Maelstrom was doing was locking you up. The heroes would never do that, what they'd do is more or less what I'd do, try to figure out a way for you to interact with the world and be safe to be around and lead a good life."

"O-Oh." It doesn't sound exactly like he believes them, more like he's having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept. But... "...would be easier for you if I went to them?" (It still seems like he might be scared of the idea.)

They shake their head. "I'd probably still want to check on you and make sure you're okay. They have more resources than me, money and space and image and all that, you'd have a room for yourself, people specialised in helping with other parahumans who don't look like other humans. The catch is that they'll be more concerned with their and your image than anything else, and parahumans are not usually picked for liking each other.

"I don't have that kind of money. I have a small apartment. But I—I would like to think I'd care about you, individually, and you being happy and safe."

He's quiet, obviously not sure what to do here, and obviously not used to having choices. "-I I don't- Whatever you think best?"

"Okay. So... how about this, you stay with me for a while, I figure how to do that out, and then if you ever decide to go to the heroes when you're safer and happier you can do that."

He brightens. "I- if that's what you want?" he agrees. (And it might sound like it's what he wants as well.)

"It's settled then." And their copy returns. "Oh, here we go." Copy has coal and some firewood.

He flickers towards the fuel, and then stops, drawing back, seemingly waiting for permission.

"Wanna try the coal or stick to the familiar wood?" copy asks.

He hovers uncertainly. "I-I- the wood? Please?" He knows that will work, in a way he's not sure the- But Glam went to the effort of getting the coal, and he shouldn't make that a waste of time. "Wait- I- the coal is fine? Either? Please?"

"I'll give you one of either and you try both and see which one you prefer?" Glam suggests, and the copy offers them.

He hesitates for a moment and then flickers forward, wrapping around the wood first, very careful not to hit the copy's fingers, even knowing they're probably fireproof.

The wood chars rapidly, disappearing into the flames, but strangely, no ash falls.

Copy seems unconcerned about burning, and offers the coal.

The coal rapidly goes the same way as the wood, and there's another moment where Nova brightens - this time quite brilliant, perhaps like a beaming smile. He abruptly realises he's doing that and forces his flames to dim.

Glam giggles. "Does that mean you like the coal better?"

"I- yes? It's- feels better?"

"You can have it, it's actually easier to find than plain old wood."

He brightens again, less brilliantly, but visibly. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"You're welcome!"

He settles again, looking less wan, and making little crackling sounds that are somehow happy, or at the very least content.

"D'you want more coal?"

He thinks for a moment. (He could take more, although he doesn't remember feeling this good, bit better not to be greedy.) "M'fine thank you."

"Okay. I'll store it somewhere for you to, ah, eat whenever you like. Also it's kinda late and tomorrow's a school day, so, I think we should head to my place."

"O-okay," he agrees quietly. Hesitates. "Um... box?"

"—what?"

He curls in on himself a bit. "Always been- moved in a box?"

"...unless you want to be moved in a box, I wasn't planning to."

"...s'safer? More- unnoticeable?" He's flickering slightly, but in a more...unsure, and slightly scared way.

"I can make things that are unnoticeable and aren't boxes. Like a floating panel that looks like the sky."

"...oh," he says quietly, "I- Okay."

Much, much quieter: "I didn't like the box."

"Then let's not ever put you in a box again ever, how about that?"

Copy returns Glam's wallet and disappears. Glam collects their laptop and conjures a platform beneath their feet.

"...Thank you."

Nova moves closer to Glam, close enough that the heat from him can be felt, but not close enough to risk burning, even if they do say they're flameproof, close to their feet and the platform.

Platform lifts off. "I'm really fireproof, you really don't need to worry."

"...I- habit? He- would- water. If I got too close."

"...I hate him."

Nova flinches, and then shifts a little closer, burns a little warmer (trying to provide comfort?). "I- it- he wasn't fireproof? It was- it was fine?" (It obviously wasn't, but at the same time, Nova seems convinced that he should have been okay with it.)

"Even if he wasn't fireproof, he was—hurting you for doing it. That's wrong. He was wrong to do it, he was wrong to hurt you, he should've done better. I want to do better by you."

"O-Oh." (He's definitely confused by the idea that someone was wrong to hurt him.) "I- you are? You gave me...wood and coal. And I hadn't even done anything to earn it!"

Oh god.

"You don't need to do anything to deserve it, people should be treated well just because they're people."

"...oh." That's an entirely new concept apparently. "...but I'm just a ball of fire?"

"You're a ball of fire who's a person."

...Definitely an entirely new concept. Nova doesn't respond verbally, but gives a tiny flicker up and down, a mimicry of a nod, to indicate he's heard Glam.

"Being a person isn't about—having legs and arms and a head, it's about—this thing, about talking and wanting things and having feelings and dreams and plans and being hurt and being happy and..."

"...oh." He's quiet for a while. Then, voice painfully young and confused: "why didn't he think that?"

"I don't know. I—I don't understand him. He isn't a good person, he—did a lot of things that hurt lots of people and I don't know why some people do that."

Nova's quiet again. Then: "...does that mean most people aren't like him?"

"Oh. Yeah. He's—he's somewhat unique even amongst the bad people."

He gives that flickering nod again, half acknowledgement, half agreement.

On the platform floats.

He sinks a little lower, making himself smaller, but drifts slightly closer to the edge, apparently curious about where they're going.

"Do you want me to make the floor transparent so you can see what's below us?"

Somehow there's an impression of a blink. "I- if- yes? If that's not a problem?"

"No problem, I can make it transparent from above and still invisible from below." And now Brockton Bay is visible.

He brightens and seems to be watching the city below them avidly.

"What do you see from? Like, I have eyes, behind my mask here, and most people use those to see, but you don't seem to have any?"

He's silent, confused, trying to work that out. "I- don't know? Just- can?"

"What I mean is—do you see all around you, or just one direction, or just from one point..."

He's quiet again, obviously trying to decide what's most accurate. "...all around?"

"That's awesome! I can only see from my eyes," they tap the mask, "and only forward."

There's that shy, blushing flicker again. "I- that sounds. Restrictive?" He flinches slightly at saying that.

"Yeah, it is, a bit. It's what most people have to deal with, I use cameras to look at various angles, you saw that right, but yeah we mostly need to turn our heads and such to look at different places."

Nova's quiet, like he can't quite get that they can't just see everything. "...doesn't that make it easy for people to sneak up on you?"

"Well, we can hear from all directions. But yeah, lots of coping techniques had to be invented to deal with that."

"Oh. I- that's- that should've been obvious. M'sorry."

"It's okay, lots of things are obvious when someone points them out to us."

He brightens at that, but doesn't seem to have a response.

"We're almost there."

He dims slightly again, somehow managing to seem both eager, and on edge. (He doesn't want to mess up, Glam's been so nice to him, he doesn't want to accidentally ruin their things.)

"It's that building over there," they point. "I—will need to figure out a way for you to get in unseen. Hmm."

He curls slightly tighter. "...a box?"

"I'm not putting you in a box again," they declare in a no-questions-asked tone.

"Thank you." There's definite relief there, but he doesn't seem to have any other suggestions.

"Hmm... what I'm gonna do is create a fake view of the outside of my building and float down to my apartment's window."

He flickers up and down in a nod. "I- as you say?" he agrees.

"Okay!" They implement the plan as described. The platform shrinks some and then starts lowering down to the level of one of the windows.

There's a moment where he doesn't quite follow the platform's movements, and then he quickly drops back to hovering just above the platforms surface.

"So you do fly, I was wondering."

Window's reached, they make a copy of themself appear inside and open it to let them in.

"I- yes? A little? I- not sure how. High I can get?"

He'll still wait for Glam to proceed him before following after them.

Glam hops in, copy disappears, and they leave the window open for Nova.

Nova floats in after them, trying to keep his flames as tight as possible so as to not accidentally set something on fire or singe it.

Window closes, and the suit disappears.

"—by the way, my name's Sadde. Glam when in costume."

There's a brief confused pause. "...importance?" It obviously is important, but Nova isn't entirely sure why.

"You shouldn't say my real name when I'm in costume because it's a secret, if people found out they might come attack me where I live.—you probably shouldn't be seen with me when I'm out of costume because people might conclude I'm Glam, but that's easier to be arranged."

"Oh. Oh! Yes. I understand!" he flickers up and down again. "I won't."

"Thank you. ...okay so I will probably need to figure out a long-term arrangement for you, the stuff I conjure disappears when I go to sleep so I can't make everything fireproof..."

He flickers again, and hovers uncertainly. "I can-" he's obviously trying to figure out where in the apartment might be fireproof. "Can probably just stay here? Probably won't- set anything on fire?"

"The bathroom is more fireproof than anywhere else, but it's kinda small and boring.—have you ever watched TV?"

"...TV?" Beat. "...noisy...picture box?"

"...yeah, that. I could put some stuff here and—I don't know how you'd change channel so you probably wouldn't but we can figure out whether you like to watch anything in particular while I'm awake and then you can watch it?"

"...that won't disturb you?"

"Nah, I have earmuffs."

"...if you won't mind? I- I'm fine without."

"I won't mind. Lemme figure out a rig here—bathroom's over there," he says, pointing at a door.

"Thank you!" And Nova will go and investigate the bathroom - providing the door is open of course.

Door is in fact open!

The bathroom is big enough for two people to comfortably be in it at the same time without elbowing each other. There are a couple of flammable things—a mat and a towel—but a Glam copy quickly floats in to grab those away.

He finds somewhere to settle, keeping himself as far away from potential water sources as possible.

Might be hard, being a bathroom and all. Nothing's dripping, though, and Sadde returns with plastic bags. "Gonna cover the shower and sink with these so no water falls on you."

He flickers briefly in confusion, and then brightens. "Thank you."

"No problem! Okay now I need to find some cables to set this monitor up..." he says, mostly to himself, and returns to the other room in the apartment.

He settles down and waits, flickering contently with those quiet crackling sounds.

Sadde returns after a few minutes carrying a TV monitor connected to something in the main room. "So I should go to bed in half an hour but in the meantime we can browse through TV channels and find something you might like to watch?"

He tilts briefly sideways. "Please?"

"Okay!"

He puts the monitor down, returns to the other room to turn stuff on and brings a TV remote. Time for browsing!

He seems to pay avid attention to the monitor, and brightens brilliantly when they encounter a nature documentary.

Well there is a whole channel for those!

Ooh. "Thank you, thank you!" he says again, and literally bounces, although he stops that pretty quickly once he realises he's doing it.

Sadde giggles. "You're welcome! Now I'm going to sleep, if you need anything give a shout."

He flickers up and down in a nod again. "I-" pauses, thinks. "...Sleep well?"

"Thank you! I hope you have fun."

And off to bed he goes.

Well, he'll spend the night contently watching documentaries, and also spend some time practising manifesting hands and feet - because that seems like a useful thing to be getting on with, and he can do that and watch the documentaries.

Sadde lies in bed, content with a day of actual meaningful heroism.

...then he opens his eyes in terror as he realizes he's not ready to be a parent.

But she eventually does manage to fall asleep and wake up.

Nova is where she left him the night before, two hands manifested and twisting together, continuing to watch the TV.

"You really did enjoy the documentaries, huh?"

The hands vanish and he flickers further up. "Yes! Thank you!"

He pauses, tilts slightly to one side. "...You're- different shaped?" Flinches. "Sorrysorry."

"You don't need to be sorry. Yeah I am, I'm a girl today—it's part of my power, I can look like a girl or a boy depending on how I'm feeling."

"...Oh." Pause, a dimming that seems to be closer to pensive than anything else, then he brightens. "That's really neat."

"It is! I like it." She gestures with her chin towards him. "I see you're getting the hang of hands."

He brightens again, apparently pleased. "Mhmm," he agrees, then, excited: "It's getting easier!"

"That's great! How much easier?"

He pauses, trying to work out an answer. "A lot. Don't really need to think about them existing."

"And you can just leave them there or do they just go away on their own?"

"Mmm. Think I can just leave them there? Hadn't really...noticed either way?"

"Can you make them not burn while you hold things?"

"N-not sure." There's an impression of a frown. "Never- tried? I- can stop the heat some?"

"It would be neat if you could. It's alright if you can't, we can figure something else out, but holding things is useful."

He flickers up and down in a nod. "I- it might take practice?"

She nods. "Yeah, that makes sense, my power took lots of practice to master."

"...are all powers like that?"

"Mmm more or less. Some people's powers are more easy to understand and use, but there's always more creative uses of power that require some thinking and some practice. But my power is on the more practice-based end."

Nova gives his flickering nod, considers. "Mm. Think it depends on what I'm doing. Fire is easy. Shapes less so but is getting easier."

"You can do more shapes than just human?"

He dims for a moment, half shy, half concentration, and then-

Flickers and changes into a small flaming bird.

She ees in surprise. "That's adorable!"

He brightens happily, flaps his wings. "There were a lot of birds on the documentaries. I got curious."

"You know, there are myths about a type of bird of fire, usually called a phoenix. Phoenixes are symbols of eternity because they never die, they're always reborn from their own ashes."

"...That's really neat. I-" he dims a little. "Always got told fire was just- bad."

"It's not. The sun is a huge ball of fire—more or less—and it's the whole reason we exist. All the energy on the planet, the energy that's in food and in all living beings, it comes originally from the sun. Fire's life."

"Oh- I. Didn't know that." He brightens again. "Thank you for telling me." (He's not sure he believes it, but he wants to.)

She can tell. "I'll find a documentary about how planets are formed so you'll see how that works. Fire also keeps people warm in the winter when it's cold, and I read somewhere that there's a theory that humans only had enough energy from food to get really big brains and become smart like we are when we learned to cook food using fire, because before that we couldn't digest things very easily."

"Thank you," he says brightly, happily.

"Okay, so, I have to go to school today, but mmm, I kinda don't want to just leave you in this bathroom all day getting bored of watching documentaries..."

"I- it's okay! I- better than- the box."

"I aspire to a higher standard than 'better than the box'!"

He does the flickering, almost-blush. "I- you- thank you. I- did you- have an idea?"

"I have the beginnings of an idea, but I'll need to go buy some stuff for it to work."

"Oh. That- that's- thank you?"

"It's the least I can do."

He flickers, and tilts in obvious confusion. "I- but- you- didn't mean- to end up with me?"

"Maybe I didn't mean it but now I did so it wouldn't be good of me to—not take this responsibility seriously."

"O-oh. I- As you say, thank you. I- I really appreciate this."

She smiles. "Okay so, documentaries for now, I'll be back around fourish PM, I'll leave you some stuff to, ah, eat, and then I'll buy the things."

He brightens. "Thank you. I- have a good day?"

"Thank you." He's so cute. Aaah. "Okay so how's space documentaries for today?"

"That'll be- cool? Thank you?"

"No problem!" Documentaries are set up.

And Nova settles in happily to continue watching them.

Stars! Space! The Sun! The Earth!

Small ball of fire imitating a sun! Or star. One of those two things!

Which is what Sadde comes home to. "Are you a star?"

He brightens. "Trying to be. Seemed cool."

"Stars are really cool! Did you get to the part where the sun's the origin of all life?"

"Uh-huh. And they said that there might be other planets capable of-" Pause as he tries to remember the phrasing. "Capable of supporting life, if they were in the correct- correct orbit to their star?"

"That's right! There are other things, too, like it needs to have the right elements and go through the right chemical processes and not be too big or too small..."

Interested sounds! Happy brightening!

She giggles. "Anyway, I wanna try some things to help with our little problem."

He flickers slightly, back to his more normal ball of flames. "I- you- I would be fine?"

"I know. That's what makes me so nice," she says, then giggles.

He flickers a little, obviously confused by the mirth, but makes a sound that might be a slight giggle. "Thank you."

"Okay! So, first, let's see how fine control you have over temperature." She goes to the bedroom and grabs a stack of paper. "Can you hold this without burning it? It's okay if it burns, paper's cheap."

He forms a hand again, and after a moment, reaches tentatively for the paper. It doesn't immediately burn when he comes into contact with it, although it curls a little away from the heat-

But then it catches alight.

And he knows she said it was okay, but he still flinches away slightly, mumbling an apology.

"It's fine, don't worry," she says, and the paper vanishes. "Paper's cheap and also I made that one," she says impishly.

He brightens a little at that, and gives a tiny giggle. "-sorry I couldn't," he says, it's a little subdued.

She shrugs. "Might be something that takes practice, and I actually wasn't even expecting it to go as well as it did, so congrats!"

He brightens again, crackling happily. "Thank you."

"Other than that, I was thinking of a fireproof suit. Can you make a whole body? I wanna eyeball your size."

"N- not sure."

He dims for a moment in concentration-

And manages to create a body, still made entirely of flames, and seeming to shake with the effort. He's not really very big at all.

"Okay!" She reaches behind her back and shows a white suit made of the same material her hero suit is made of. "Do you think you can step into this? It's alright if you can't, you can practice later."

"I- can try."

He hesitates for a moment, clearly gathering himself. Then he shifts. The movements are clumsy and awkward, and he obviously isn't sure how he's supposed to coordinate himself like this. He makes it to the suit-

And then loses his grip on the form and returns to being a ball of flames. He pulls back, seeming more upset at himself than worried about Sadde's reaction.

"It's alright," she says, making the suit disappear, "I'll make just gloves for now so we can test it. You don't have to get everything right the first time you do it, it often takes practice."

He reforms his hands after a moment. "It's just-" he stops, trying to figure out the right word. "I want to be able to, and I can't and that's- not-upsetting, but-"

"Frustrating?" she suggests.

He thinks for a moment, and then gives his flickering nod. "Mhmm. S'frustrating that I can't."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Powers can be very frustrating."

He brightens. "But I can do more than I could yesterday!"

"You can! You progressed a lot really fast! I'm proud of you."

There's his flickering blush again. "Thank you," he says shyly. "I- you helped."

"Well I don't know how but I'm glad I did." Gloves! "Here, try these."

Hands: into gloves. Fingers: wiggle.

"...feels weird."

Giggle. "Now let's see you hold the paper." Another sheet!

Brightening of the parts of him not covered by gloves! Cautious reaching out to take the paper. Which doesn't burn.

"Thank you!"

"Cool! Now I just need to make gloves that don't rely on my power."

Nova flickers a little. "I- can just. Avoid flammable things? M'good at that?"

"I mean, that, too, but I'd like you to live as close to a normal life as you'd want to, and so far you haven't even tried it to see how much you like it."

Nova pauses. "I- no. I. Guess I haven't?"

"So, there you go, I'm gonna show you what a normal life's like and you can decide how much of it you want."

He brightens again. "...my choice?"

"Yep."

"I think- I'd enjoy finding out," he says shyly.

"I think you will, too! And I can't offer you much in terms of material goods, I have to support myself on a part time job, but the fact that you eat fuel and don't need sleep makes this way easier to budget for."

He does flicker a little uncertainly there. "I- don't want to cause you problems?"

"It would cause me problems if you were out on your own or living with the Protectorate, I'd be really disappointed in myself. So. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, I- as you say, m-" Slight pause, working on: "Sadde. Thank you."

She beams. "Okay, so, fireproof gloves. Let me see what I can find about those online." She grabs her phone and sits cross-legged on the floor.

While she does that, Nova starts folding the paper, mostly aimlessly, to work on his dexterity.

"Hmm I have a few hits, but they won't be as pretty as mine. I should figure out a way to make some like mine instead of buying ready-made ones but these should probably work fine as a stopgap measure."

"-I don't need them to be pretty?" he points out quietly.

"Yeah but some of them are actually kinda clunky, look." She turns the screen to him to show a pair of thick fireman gloves.

He flickers, focusing carefully. Looks down at the piece of paper he's been folding. "-oh. Yeah."

"But it's a start. Unless you'd rather I not get one of these."

"I- like being able to touch. But don't want you to waste your- money?"

"It's not a waste if it's gonna make you happy."

He still seems uncertain. "O-okay? Please?"

"It is thus decided!" she declares. "I'll order these." And she starts tapping into her phone.

Excited star with hands! "Thank you!"

She grins, taps some more, then—" It should arrive tomorrow at the latest."

Excited bounce, pause. "-Isn't that quick?"

"It's Amazon Express, yeah, but stuff does arrive quick here."

"That's- good. Thank you."

"You're welcome! So, is there anything you want to do tonight? Go out, see something, visit the ocean?"

His fingers wind together some. "I- hadn't thought. I would- like to see more, I think. If- if it isn't- a problem? If people see me?"

"Not if I'm wearing my hero suit, then we can go outside just fine."

"-would be nice then?"

"Okay!" She stands up and hides behind the door frame for just long enough to reappear wearing the suit. "Ready?"

"Mhmm."

Glam opens the window and creates the illusionary wall so no one will see them.

And Nova follows them, eagerly.

Up up up they go until they're flying high enough above the city that they can see all of it, the ocean, the highway...

Nova takes it in, in his peculiar way, happy and excited and enthralled.

They giggle. "Do you want to go see anything in particular?"

"I- I don't. Know. Don't really know what there is-"

They gesture around. "Everything you can see, pick something that looks interesting."

"...something about...knowledge?"

"...hmm. Museums, uh, libraries, but those are fragile and we'll need to get you a fully-covering fire suit before you can go there. Schools—I guess one advantage of joining up with the Protectorate is going to Arcadia..."

"...museums?"

"It's big places with stuff for people to look at. There are some that are for art, so they have sculptures and paintings and things like that, and some for science, with exhibits that explain tidbits of science and discoveries and all that, and some for history, which show documents and portraits and very old things. And mixtures, like natural history museums with very old sciencey things, or ancient art with very old art things."

Nova seems excited by the idea of that. "Are there any here? Of the- the science or the natural history ones?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure they'd let you in while you're on fire."

"...oh. That makes sense." He seems a little upset, but not overly so. "S'there anywhere we can go that me being on fire isn't going to be a problem?"

"Hmm... well, the ocean, and anywhere we can see from above is fine, as well as parks and public venues."

"Parks?" It's half a request, half a question about what they are.

"Expansive green areas with walkways and benches you can stroll through to enjoy nature."

"-can we go see one?"

"Sure! Follow me."

They fly that-a-way.

Following ball of fire staying close to Glam!

Glam flies above a park. "I'm gonna check it out for people."

Nova flickers up and down in a nod.

Glam creates a copy and sends it down into the park. "Give me a minute."

Nova gives his nod again, and gives a little, excited crackle.

Copy returns. "All clear." Then disappears.

"Let's go?"

He brightens and will follow Glam.

Glam floats down towards the park. "Careful with the trees."

He dims slightly, but it's less as though that's being taken as a rebuke, and more in line with concentrating to be careful.

"I will be," he agrees.

Then: park! It has carefully tended to plants, pretty trees and flowers here and there, and a stone path winding between them for people to walk along.

It's pretty! And nice! And Nova's very careful not to set anything on fire!

It's not a sufficiently enclosed park that Nova had a very high risk of setting stuff on fire, especially because plants are less flammable than the media would have you believe. It's a nice walk in the park.