The First Hello of Many

"Should they need to, though? They have evolved their society to be functional and modern. I cannot expect to be an exception." She sighed. All of these complications from talking to a stranger? A stranger she would likely see around the school again? "But I digress. Thank you for your continued compliments, although they truly are unnecessary." She smiled. Roland was too kind. Then again, she gravitated towards kind people.

Content that she had successfully avoided an overly deep subject, Nova listened to the way Roland described his home. After a short pause to process, she replied,

"So, a Mage is a magic human, if I understand correctly. I still do not understand the concept of a spell. I always thought it a way to write letters in a correct order. Do you specialise in the ordering of letters?" She had no clue what a spell was, but she was familiar of the concept 'to spell.' Wherever Roland came from, it was certainly a place of wonders, literary or otherwise.

Nova saw the smile on the boy's face disappear. Did he dislike her question? To be fair, she had also come close to talking about way too serious topics with him. Would he be able to deflect a topic too?

"Thank you once more," she said. He had really exaggerated upon her apparent beauty. Part of her felt very grateful and confident for that, but part just felt like he was trying a little too hard. Whatever he was attempting to achieve by repetitively telling her she was beautiful when they had only just met confused her.

"I- I am not sure of the people on this island. They are so different to me and I-" she paused. She did not want to let on that Roland had a valid point. Was it even valid? She was not sure, although she knew that others on Earth did not talk the same way as she did. "I do not wish to talk about this." Her gaze fell to her feet in their academy uniform shoes. She looked around at those identical shoes on each passerby. Then she saw the green of her legs. Nobody in sight had legs the same pigment as hers. Feeling even more isolated, her blue blinking eyes slowly returned towards Roland. He would have easily picked up on her emotion, but she needed him to understand that she did not want to elaborate on the topic.

Happy they had turned to a more... Lighthearted subject, Nova narrowed her eyes. "So everyone can learn magic?" She asked inquisitively. Without pausing for an answer, she continued, "why do others not know it, then?" She then regained a curious look in her eyes and asked, "So, what is magic? Can you think of something and BAM! It happens?"

Nova was again curious as to why Roland did what he did. At least he explained that he was nervous. She had been nervous at first, but there was no way she was about to admit that. "There is nothing to apologize for. If your compliments were genuine, you must be a very kind person. There is no need to be nervous, either. I do not know why you would be afraid to talk to me, especially after we have got to know each other a bit." She was comfortable now, but felt her discomfort must have been more obvious than Roland's, who did not show a sign of it.

Nova knew she should have kept her emotions to herself. A sad face made others sad. She could not hide in the trees anymore. She had to toughen up and bring happiness to others, rather than infecting them with sorrow as if it was a disease. Roland was smiling, she noticed, but he was smiling for her benefit rather than his own. "Do not be sorry. Curiosity is never a bad thing. In fact, curiosity is the only way we further our knowledge" And the only reason I know anything about Earth, she thought.

"Okay." She said, thinking deeply about his answer. All of a sudden, his finger burst into flames, and he was staying calm. "Fire!" She yelled, scared that he would burn in front of her eyes. A few heads turned, but she hardly noticed them. She frantically looked around for some water to douse the flame. There was a red can on the wall that said something about fire, but she did not understand how a can would put out a fire. It was fair to say that Nova had never witnessed magic of any kind in her life.

"Yes, you are welcome," she said. "It seems we have both enhanced each other's arrivals."

Still panicked at the fire, there was no way Nova would obediently calm down by Roland telling her anything. She kind of grasped after a little while that it was in fact his magic but her fear of the sinister capabilities a power like that must hold overwhelmed her. She knew better than to trust strangers, yet Roland had seemed so nice. She knew it was not his fault he could do that sort of thing, but it frightened her.

"Are you serious? You create fire in a school hallway without warning?" She said, annoyed. "Th-there are smoke alarms in school hallways, you know? You could easily have triggered one of them. And what if the fire got out of control? Who would be to blame? You, of course."

Her hair, while waterproof, was actually quite flammable. She refrained from admitting this to a potential arsonist, but was still really quite fed up about the whole situation. "You practice that sort of magic? Can you not just practice the safe spells, or the spells that actually do good?"

With that, she straightened her backpack, smoothed out her uniform and said one last sentence. "I hope you learn and explore too, learn to control your power and explore the possibility of not putting me under the impression that there was a fire!" Turning around, she continued on her way, muffin in tow. Her blue hair bobbed behind her, her green limbs visible amongst the crowd of students.

((OOC: We can finish the thread after your next post, or we can continue on, it's up to you. But if they are going on the cruise, it might be a good idea to finish the thread before starting a new interaction.))

Nova was not in the mood to talk to Roland anymore. But yet, there he was in front of her. Pleading for her forgiveness. Well, she did not get people doing this to her everyday. She spun around to face him, so close they were nearly touching. Taking a half-step back and looking up at him, Nova listened to everything Roland had to say. She cursed her empathy as she watched him practically begging her to stay. She did not understand why she was unable to leave and return at a later date, but she respected his choice and stayed for a while.

Breaking out of her still, emotionless silence when he stopped speaking, she replied,
"You have now said your part. Now it is my turn. When I met you, not long ago, I thought you were a prince. You looked like one, spoke like one and you were polite like one. I should not have been so superficial."

Talking like that probably hurt her more than it did him. Her eyes stung from the water threatening to show itself.

"I have only known you... for less than half an hour... but I thought you would turn out to be different. You were so charming to me.

I understand where you are coming from. I also understand that you are eager to throw around your past as if it is not a big weight on your shoulders. I do not wish to do that. I understand you have a reason, no, multiple reasons for having the magic. I do not wish for you to stop having the magic. If I said or implied it in my anger, I too am sorry. Your magic is special to you.

What I mean is... I am sorry for not understanding the magic in itself. That will take time. I do realise, however, that some students are particularly susceptible to fire, my own hair included, and if it were to catch on... well, a small healing spell would not repair the damage. I have not known you for long at all, nor have I known magic for very long, but I recommend you be less reckless when using it. The school may or may not allow fire in the hallways but even so I advise that you consider others before doing that again.

I am sorry if I do not make sense, or if I do not understand. But how would you have explained it if my highly flammable hair got in the way of the flame and sizzled into a pile of ash? You are not yet adult, Roland. Your powers cannot be perfect. It may only happen one percent of the time, but imagine me now, bald and with blisters on my scalp? Maybe you could heal it, you think? What about the excruciating pain that would come before it?

You are right, second chances are hard to come by. I may or may not give you one, in time, but only once you learn to be responsible with the power you were gifted with. A healer is a respectable job. You will need it if you continue to show off fire like that."

A tear rolled down her face, leaving no mark on her waterproof skin. She was so angry that the boy who was so kind could be so thoughtless. "I cannot talk anymore."And with that, she continued walking.