"I swear… can you read minds too?" Phoenix asked her with a light laugh, seemingly entranced by the little light. It was oddly calming to him, giving off it's little bit of light. "Anyways, it's a good thing it doesn't hurt you."
"Ha, no I can't read minds. But you looked like you wanted to touch it okay?" Cicada responded letting the flame flicker and wave in the air. She had a smile on her face, "So I told you not to, just because it doesn't hurt me, doesn't me it won't hurt to. Anyway, your, um, not scared or freaked out or anything like that?"
Phoenix lifted his head, giving her a light smirk. "I just helped you carry to severely burned guys to a hospital after you burned them. I was expecting way, way worse than this. This is nothing." He hummed, pulling back so he wouldn't be tempted to try and play with fire.
"Oh, this is me in control. What you saw was the aftermath when I get out of control," Cicada decided to extinguish the flame so Phoenix would be tempted any further. she had a little smirk on her face, "I try to stay away from natural sources of fire since that tends to cause me to flare up as well. Literally."
"Makes sense. Just like the domino effect. Once it gets started, it goes until it burns out." Phoenix hummed, wanting to just lean back into the bed. "But I was still expecting worse. I mean, like I thought you were in control when that happened… a little bit at least."
"Nope, I had no control whatsoever when it happened," Cicada let out an exsaperated sigh before falling back on her bed. She lifted her bandaged hand towards the ceiling, "It's scary to be honest. Not having control over your body or, fire, as you hurt others."
"Have you ever tried to practice with it?" Phoenix asked her softly, turning his head over to her when she flopped back. He felt bad, but he knew how dangerous she could be. It was honestly scary to think about. So he didn't. "Tried to work on control?"
"Yeah, when I was younger I worked on it a lot," Cicada replied glancing over at Phoenix, "Actually when I was younger I used it a lot, but then my house burned to the ground so I stopped. You're smart you can put the two together. But I haven't actively used it since, so no I don't try to work on my control over it."
"Well, we should. So we don't have any more accidents." Phoenix mumbled, trying not to sound like her helicopter parent. He just didn't want her, or anyone else to get hurt. It could be worse the next time. "We could go somewhere with water, if you'd be up for it."
"I don't know," Cicada said after a moment of hesitation. She didn't know if she would be able to control her… Thing even with the security of water nearby, "I don't want to end up accidently hurting you."
"If I find a way to protect myself, would you consider it?" Phoenix asked her softly, leaning back a little bit on the bed. His face was relaxed, as he sunk into his thoughts for a solution.
"I, yeah I would consider it," Cicada eventually said after moments of silence. If he could protect himself than she would at least consider it.
"Then I'll figure something out. We can worry about that later." Phoenix hummed, smiling over at her. "For now, you should probably get some more sleep. You didn't get much earlier."
"I don't need sleep," Cicada responded sitting up in a swift movement looking over at him. She didn't feel tired at the moment, "I feel fine. Now I've spilled my life to you, tell me something that most others don't know bout you. No pressure to do so though."
“Something most others don’t know?” Phoenix asked in a mumble, knowing he needed to. He needed to tell her something. She had told him almost everything he was was wondering about. “I… have you noticed me being odd, about… about looking over people’s heads?”
"Yeah, you did the same thing to me first time we met," Cicada looked at him curiously. What was he getting at? Is there some invisible thing floating above everyone's head? "Do have a thing with haor?"
“Uh- no. That’s not it. I- I can…” Phoenix was looking for words, trying to explain without sounding like a psycho. “I can basically tell how dangerous someone is, on a scale from one to ten… I know it’s odd. I have no clue where it comes from.”
"Oh," Cicada finally responded after collecting her thoughts. He could see how dangerous a person was, how dangerous did his ability rank her? She wasn't going to force him to tell her, that seemed stupid, "That's, um, cool I guess."
“No, not really. I feel like a creep for knowing.” Phoenix mumbled, resting his chin on his palms. “When I say everyone, I mean everyone. Myself included.”
"I mean, that makes sense, but you can see your own?" Cicada asked curious now. Well, she was curious earlier, but now she was more curious, "What is it? If you don't mind me asking?"
“My number?” Phoenix asked softly, looking over at her with a slight frown. “Sadly, I’m a four from the last time I checked. I’m no opposing threat. I can barely take care of myself.”
"Heh, and you want to mother me," Cicada laughed a little before spotting his frown. She rubbed at her arm a little, "Sorry, I was just curious, that's all. Your ability sounds kind of useful."
"I don't see it being useful… there's no need to sugar coat it." Phoenix told her, face still dropped down in his palms. "And I know I shouldn't be trying to 'take care of' you, I just… can't help it."
"Hey your fine. I was just poking fun at you, I can stop if you want," Cicada responded getting slightly concerned about Phoenix, "But your ability does sound useful. You can judge whose dangerous and who isn't so it's easier to avoid dangerous people."
"Yet I seem like a wimp." Phoenix mumbled, kicking at the ground. "But it doesn't matter. I'll get over it, it's no big deal." He shrugged pushing up from the bed. "Do you wanna go for a walk around the campus?"