Fernando floats closer, arms folded. "We will want more time to think of any other terms to ask. The mayor office was already in a defensive protocol just on principle, so that immediate concern is already over. But we will talk to you of any possible demands we might need to enforce, and I would even be willing to find you the means to leave peacefully."

Opero nods again. "I'll await word on that, then."

And wait he does. He'll go where they tell him, and generally not do much. He's going to spend most of the time meditating, both to think about how he could have handled this better and to hasten the recovery of his soul-dew.

"Let's get you a fresh set of clothes."

He smiles at that. "I'd appreciate it."

And presumably they go and do that, albeit with some extra apprehension on all sides. He puts about the same amount of thought into picking new clothes as the first time, though he's careful not pick anything that seems like it could be expensive or flammable.

Gabe offers some cheaper shirts, and the cargo shorts. But nothing that isn't minimally presentable.

Cargo shorts and a random shirt it is!

"So, what sort of time-frame are we looking at for a response?" Opero asks to any of them.

Fernando makes waves his hand. "Unsure. I will have to make calls. More than a day, longer than a week? It might be more practical to come to them."

"Inter-world visitors are not an everyday problem."

"I would imagine so. I will follow if you believe bringing me to them would expedite things."

Fernando nods. "We still need to figure that out."

"You really don't happen to have a way to contact your world or something?"

“Not anymore, no. I had a droplet of portal-dew preserved with a spirit folded into my armor, and unfortunately it’s been thoroughly destroyed at this point.”

Henry doesn't quite feel bad about it, but he doesn't feel not bad about it. He doesn't say anything.

To be fair, Opero isn't using an accusatory tone, and now that he knows he's not stranded here he's looking a lot less anxious. Plus it's not like he told them his armor was also his way home, which is on him.

"So... from what we could see, it looked like you are actively replenishing your lifeforce reserves."

He sighs. "Yes."

He is tempted to leave it at that, but he knows that he will not be able to remain silent if he wants their help, "Calorism allows for more than just the...storage of heat. Specifically, it transforms the...existential mode, of the heat?"

He pauses for a moment, considering his words. "I've never actually used words to communicate these ideas before, the only others I've discussed it with back home have been fellow spiritist-humorists of similar advancement to me that I was able to simply directly share the knowledge with, so pardon me if this doesn't make much sense. It changes the heat's mode of existence such that rather than being more or less random, the heat possesses a sort of organizing principle aligned with the calorist's self. One of the consequences of this is a greatly altered vitality, in proportion to the heat retained by the calorist."

"Are you capable of sharing stored heat?"

Should he tell them? It's a specific interaction of all three vitalities, and not one easily provable from base principles, even if they eventually discovered themselves he could say he simply did not know how to. He made a promise he wouldn't trade his life away to become nothing but a machine of healing. But...he may need the leverage this offers to negotiate for his return home. "It is difficult, it requires great mastery of all three vitalisms, but...I possess such capabilities, yes."

"That sounds game-changing. How uncommon is for someone to have that skill-"

Felix is sensing something. "Okay." Then to follow through. "We had some intense last minutes. We should take a proper breather."

"I am the only one I know of. There are few calorists, fewer still who have the requisite familiarity with spiritism and humorism, and even fewer who have had the time to develop the interdisciplinary understanding needed to discover the technique. It's possible there are others, but I doubt it."

Opero lets out a sigh. "Yes. I think a break would be good."

"I will make those calls," Fernando says while floating away.

"Okay... Do you have something you do when you want to relax?" Felix asks Opero.

“Art. Sculpture and painting in particular, especially miniature diorama.” He forms tiny facsimiles of various different areas he’s passed through from his armor, including a bit of this town and the giant forest he arrived in.

“It started mostly as a practical skill, but it has since become one of my retreats. What about you?”