He relaxes a tiny amount at that, and let's the flames just...exist. He doesn't exactly direct them, but he occasionally flicks a finger, making the flames jerk and dance. His tiny smile grows. (He didn't care what anyone said, it was hard to control the flames but they were the closest thing he had to comfort in so long.)

He's aware of Pradnakt, and the back of his brain is still worried about her reaction, but-

But this is the closest to safe he's ever felt (if he could process it that far), and eventually the flames...settle, even if they don't entirely die.

She waits until they do, and then a few minutes more, to make sure he's done. A rustling from above announces that she's decided to come back down and talk to him.

He goes tense, but strangely, the flames don't flare, don't seem to register Pradnakt as a true threat. He looks up towards her, waiting.

She finishes making her way down and sits on the ledge next to him, keeping her distance a little.

"Feeling better?"

By some miracle, he manages to not give an automatic response, to not just say 'yes'. He takes a moment to think. And...finds, that the answer is not entirely 'no'.

"Feel...less tense," he admits shyly, hoping it's the right thing to say. "Less like something's missing."

"Good. You can come out here whenever you want; you don't need to ask, just be careful near the buildings and bring some water with you."

He's still, searching for some kind of trap in those words. "I- if you. Say so. Yes, ma'am." He's not sure he'll be able to listen to that, isn't sure he can trust it's genuine, but... "Thank you."

She nods.

"I'm going to have some exercises for you tonight after dinner - I don't think you're ready, exactly, but I don't think waiting's going to help either. Does that sound all right?"

He nods. Doing anything would be good. "Please?"

"Mmhmm."

"Is there anything else you want to work on while you're here? Daisy tells me we should be teaching you to read; anything else like that?"

He shrugs a little. "I- you-" He doesn't have any idea what else he could possibly need to know, except what he already does - he fails miserably to hide his excitement at the idea of reading. "I- you don't- don't need to know."

"Yeah you do. Or, I mean, you might be able to get by, but-" she waves a hand vaguely. "You're not a slave anymore, Nova. An education'll benefit you just as much as anybody else."

He twists his fingers together, flames leaping slightly. "What if I can't?" he mumbles. (He'd been told he was too stupid often enough.)

"Then you figure something else out, same as if you didn't want to. But, Nova, have you tried yet? At all?"

"I- a. A little. Back-" he gestures vaguely in approximately the direction of the town. "But. Was mostly. Pictures? In it."

Nod. "So you really don't have any reason to think you couldn't."

"I- no?" he admits (except being told he was an idiot, being told he couldn't be any good for anything else-). He hunches in on himself slightly.

"- Nova - here, stretch, and take a deep breath." She demonstrates, reaching over her head and clasping her hands together.

He tries to copy her actions, but uncurling that much makes him feel vulnerable, exposed, and he can't quite follow through entirely. He manages the deep breaths after a couple of attempts - he has plenty of experience taking deep breaths.

Yeah.

"You're here now. What they thought doesn't matter. I know it's hard to feel that, but it'll get easier. And moving around and stretching can help remind you of where you are, when that's hard."

He nods (he thinks he feels...a little better). "...thank you." (It seems like the logical thing to say.)

She nods. "We'll work on it some more tonight. It's an important thing to practice with."

He nods again. "Yes, ma'am," he agrees (and it is maybe slightly less just agreeing for ease).

That gets him a little grin, not that he probably notices it.

"So, is there anything else you'd like to learn while you're here?"

He shrugs a little helplessly. "Reading's good," he murmurs. He doesn't have any clue what else there is to learn.