"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."