"No. I am not a cape."

"Parahuman, whatever." What was his trigger, people hauling off and slugging him because he was such a pedantic asshole?

"I am also not that. I am not any kind of human."

And Glaistig Uaine's a fairy, sure. "Are we doing the person first language thing, person with powers? Whatever. What do we call you."

"Curufinwë Fëanáro."

"That's way too many syllables. Anyway. You're freaking everybody out. We want you to stop that. JHU can't use the library if there's a rogue in it being a creep."

"I don't want to freak anybody out. I haven't initiated interactions with anybody and I don't intend to. In a couple of days I will know enough to pass for human and get a job and then I will do that and then I will get an apartment and read books and there won't be any problems."

Like hell you will you're in the papers at this point. "You're freaking people out anyway, man."

"It has been made abundantly clear to me that if I am not good enough at doing this then various institutions dedicated to hauling people off to prisons of one kind or another will involve themselves. I don't really want to die but that is obviously their prerogative."

"Look, the Protectorate wants to help you out. You don't have to join up long as you can, like, not freak people out." What does dying have to do with anything? Some kinda won't-take-him-alive credo? Stupid.

"Great. I would love to not freak people out. Do you have advice."

"Yeah, come in with me and talk to the director." Please do not be convinced to join up then Neighbor will have to interact with you every day what a nightmare just stop being such a fucking freak.

"There is absolutely no way I'll join up, don't worry."

Right the mindreading thing. Yech. "Yeah so just like come talk to the director."

"Okay."

And then they are somewhere else, thirteen times in total until they're stepping into the front hall of an institutional building. Neighbor leads him over to the elevator.

It's not even an especially ugly human building. He reminds himself he can leave. He gets into the elevator.

It elevates. It stops. Neighbor leads him to an office, wherein a director.

"Director, gotcha the library rogue."

"Thank you, Neighbor, that will be all."

Neighbor vanishes.

"Hello," says the director.

"Hi. I don't suppose one can learn to teleport, that would be really useful."

"If that's not one of your powers it is unlikely to become one later." He's kind of a weird combination of powers, telepathy and parkour. Unclear how telepathic. Don't think about sex. Pink elephants. "We've been led to believe that you're missing some key skills necessary to function in society. We'd like to help you with that." He'd be the prettiest Case 53 she's ever heard of, but the pointy ears and the extreme cheekbones and such could still be the same thing, maybe? Could've invented the whole from another world thing to cope.

"No, I'm actually just from another world. If you have any linguists around I could teach them Quenya and then that would at least get you as far as 'invented a language with no etymological roots with any known ones, or is telling the truth'. Elves all have osanwë - we can share thoughts, senses, memories, and emotions with each other - and I guess we're also physically stronger than you though I hadn't actually realized that until the janitor got upset."

"You've upset several people. If you'd find it easiest to accept remedial skills training from someone who's also a linguist that can be arranged. We'd like to prevent any serious misunderstandings before they turn into big problems." Wouldn't want that nice library to explode because he offended a villain or something.

"- okay, that's reasonable. I'm not going to get into any fights, the fights sound really dumb. I want to live in peace and read all the books there are and that's all I anticipate doing for the next twenty Years."

"You might not plan to start any fights, but things happen." Capes happen. Capes will fight anything that looks at them crosseyed, let alone actually acts obnoxious.

"I'm not a cape. I can notice them coming and avoid them."