A/N

Another case of me taking the poke lines of a Blizzard hero/unit and applying them in narrative form. This time, Ragnaros.

Flame On

"Mortal! What are you reading?!"

Jaina let out a yelp and grabbed her staff, seeing the towering pillar of inferno standing above her. A throwback to the ancient past of Azeroth. A lieutenant of the Old Gods. An elemental of fire. The one named Ragnaros, who by luck or design, had ended up in the Nexus with all other manner of horrible monsters from across the multiverse. A monster that, for now, was on her side

"Speak, insect!"

But that could change at a moment's notice, or at least the next time the realm lords wanted to play another game. So, on the docks of Blackheart's Bay, she gingerly showed him the tome she'd been reading.

"A Song of Ice and Fire?!"

By the Light he yells a lot. "Yes," said the mage candidly. "Tracer leant it to me. It's the 2066 edition."

"Hmm," the flame elemental said. He took the tome, and by some miracle, didn't turn it to ashes. "I prefer songs of fire and fire!"

Jaina winced, and he must have noticed, because he asked, "what ails you, mortal?!"

She didn't answer, but instead glanced hopelessly across the bay at her core. None of her fellow heroes could reach her in time, and since this wasn't Warcraft III, all she had was a dinky little hearthstone to teleport with.

"Speak!"

"Your voice," she whispered. "It's really…really…loud."

"I am not shouting! This is my inside voice!"

"But we're outside."

"Bah!" He threw the book down onto the dock and Jaina scooped it up. She'd hand it back to Tracer as soon as she could. There was no reason the girl should lose one of the few mementos of her own world, and besides, the plot reminded her of Azeroth too much, from the bickering of human nations, to an undead evil in the north. Speaking of which-

She did her best to look inconspicuous (not that hard when in the shadow of an elemental lieutenant) as she saw Arthas riding by towards some siege giants who were hung over. Arthas, as in, the Lich King Arthas. Arthas the murderer. Arthas the monster. Arthas whom she kept running into, and not always as an enemy. Heck, not nearly enough as an enemy, because fighting him was much easier than forgiving right now. And probably always would be.

"That is Arthas! Do you fear Arthas?!"

"For the Light's sake stop yelling!" Jaina exclaimed. She glanced at Arthas, now in the midst of slaughtering those siege giants and stealing their doubloons. "I…" She sighed. "I don't fear him. I detest him."

"That is not all, mortal!"

"What would you know?" she murmured.

"I too have an ex! She still carries a…torch, for me!"

Jaina blinked – did elementals engage in relationships? And even more bizarrely, was Ragnaros, the scourge of Molten Core, the elemental lieutenant of fire, the terror of the Dark Irons and indeed, the Eastern Kingdoms as a whole…trying to make her feel better?

"Kael! Thrall! I sense that you have unresolved sexual tension with them as well!"

Well, if he was, he was failing. Badly.

"I have heard that Kalecgos will not make it into the Nexus anytime soon either!"

Very badly. So badly that Jaina summoned her mount then and there, climbing onto it. She glared at Ragnaros, who looked pensive.

"What?" she asked.

"I cannot ride mounts! I envy you!"

"An absolute tragedy," she murmured. "I…" She sighed. "Why are you here, Ragnaros?"

"A game with an acronym like HOTS should have more fire in it! That's why I'm here!"

"No, I mean, with me here, right now," she said. "We're not fighting, we're not collecting doubloons, shouldn't you…I dunno, be burning things?"

"Soon the enemy shall have a molten core! I must stay hot!"

"Nice try."

The fire elemental sighed. "Tough crowd," he said, and Jaina blinked – he wasn't shouting anymore. "I'm starting to burn out."

"Does that mean you'll leave me alone?"

"If that is your wish," he said. "Or I can find Arthas and steal his doubloons."

"I…" She smiled. "I'd like that a lot, actually."

Ragnaros didn't say anything. Instead he summoned a pillar of flame beneath him, and shot off across the dock. Leaving her to ask whether Ragnaros had done something to improve her own emotional wellbeing. Ask, and come up with the answer as "yes."

Only in the Nexus, she supposed.