"Ange," Aaren chides.

"But do understand that you may wish a little time before we do start. I am bad for being overeager..."

Nova shrugs a little. "Don't mind? I-whatever you think best?"

Angelique looks to Zev and tilts her head very slightly, asking for his assessment.

Zev is startled by this. Now? But...Nova's only had one night of sleep and it was spent mostly propping Zev up. Surely a bit more time to rest would be better?

But then again, he's not the expert here. Not even close. He squeezes Nova gently. "Ready?"

"I- yes?"

"Honestly, what I'm going to ask of you here isn't much. It's simply getting used to doing something small with your fire. Igniting your hand, or lighting a candle."

He wants to help. He doesn’t know how. 

"When I was younger, I found that contact with something that...grounded me, helped a lot with my focus."

"Sh'used me about half the time."

Nova nods cautiously again.

"Now. I should be able to contain anything that gets out of hand, so don't worry about that. Just breathe, and light up just one hand for me, please?"

Zev kept his hands tight on Nova’s hand and on his shoulder. 

Nova breathes carefully, and then holds out his hand and-

He doesn't make the flames happen, it's more like he lets them happen.

"Very-" Angelique starts, but is cut off-

-by flames lighting up on both her hands. "What-?" she breathes.

Nova flinches at that response, and immediately tamps down on the flames, a reflexive apology falling off his lips.

“What’s wrong?” Zev demands. 

Esca has pressed closer to Nova, trying to offer comfort.

"Nothing, not really," Angelique says. "There's nothing to apologise for, Nova, I promise."

He shrinks into Zev's side anyway.

"I just wasn't expecting my fire to respond to yours."

She manages to dismiss her flames. "See? Everything's fine."

Zev’s half risen out of his seat, eyes narrowed. He hasn’t let go of Nova, but he’s ready to leap in between him and the rest of the room. 

"You can't go half an hour without being dramatic, can you, Ange?" Aaren complains.

"Oh, you know me," Angelique says cheerfully. "Now. I think perhaps we should leave it at that for today, and eat these no doubt delicious scones Aaren has prepared for us."