Winter was coming. She could taste it in the half frozen berries he brought to her for her meals. Well to be fair she didn't see him as the type to go berry picking so it was probably one of his Dreg's but regardless winter was coming and boy did those berries taste foul. To be fair it WAS Autumn when he caught me and this is Russia, so that doesn't really help me figure out how long I've been down here. Nix pondered as she watched Vrack poke away at something on his work desk. A few days ago she had gotten the stones to accept the invite out of her 'pen' as she had taken to calling it and to her delight he'd tossed her some sort of scroll. She couldn't make it out and could only guess it was one of the items many other Warlocks coveted at the Tower. She remembered overhearing somebody mentioning it was supposed to feature the Fallen language but she couldn't tell letter from decorated scribble on it. Do Fallen even use letters?

Still it gave her bored mind something to look at and try to do.

However where normally this would all but consume her simply because it was something to occupy her mind she had bigger concerns. Up until now she had been eating the leave's roots, and berries brought to her. They tasted awful and she put herself at risk of a nutritional deficiency but she could safely identify and eat them. With winter coming they would be in short supply so meat would have to supplement. And that brought her to her current rather serious dilemma.

Humans couldn't live on meat alone, that opened her to a world of deficiencies and that could prove fatal right now. On top of that they served her raw meat, which she suspected was cut with the same blades they hunted with. So there was a serious risk of disease there.

Rubbing her face with her hands she let out a frustrated sigh. How the ever living hell am I supposed to explain this to him... she thought. Her only idea so far had been to try to explain through motion which she concluded would be the most complex game of charades she'd ever done. She knew it was likely her only option, maybe try to use simple words for him to learn, he seemed interested in bridging the language gap. Which she had not rule the possibility of only learning to interrogate her or use to spy on guardians. Though to be fair I want that for the later purpose also…

After a few moments of silence she gave up her pointless mental run around and stood up. She knew he was watching her the whole time so she wasn't surprised when he turned around the second she moved to get up.

Nix stood there awkwardly, not entirely sure how to even start this smoothly as he stared at her. Which only made her feel even weirder about this. The more I think about how to do this the weirder I feel. "Umm…So uh..I need to talk to you about something..," she started, knowing he likely didn't understand a word of it.

Sure enough he just stared at her blankly and she couldn't help the urge to fidget. "Uhh.." she looked around and spotted the meat on the 'plate' of metal he'd offered her and walked over slowly to grab it. It had the distinct smell of starting to decay meat. It wasn't bad yet per say but without refrigeration it was starting to get old. Holding it rather delicately in her hands so she didn't touch too much of it she lifted it up to show it too him "I need to cook this. With heat or umm fire."

Sure enough he just looked at her blankly.

"Okay that didn't work um…" Nix looked around hoping to find something to help her explain when she saw the lantern in the corner and pointed at it then the meat in her hand. "I need fire..or lots of heat. Lamp hot. Put on meat." She said miming herself putting the meat on a fire. "Cook meat. Make edible. I cook meat. Can then eat."

He wasn't staring blankly at her now, now she was fairly certain her was both confused and thought her crazy. He tilted his head and looked between the lamp and her growing ridiculous movements not understanding it at all.

"Ugh! Fire! Cook! You know..burn stuff!" she said getting frustrated. How did people do this hundreds of years ago?! You can't get shit done without language or learn or explain anything! I feel like talking to a brick wall would be easier! She sighed and stared at the lamp trying to think of a way to build a flame. A small one, just to show him what she meant seeing as he was no help right now. Then again if I burned his stuff I'd be in hot water. Fallen fabric burns really well if you can light it..! Wait! I burned their shit all the time with my Solar energy!

At that moment she felt both really stupid and extremely brilliant.

I can cook this with my Solar abilities…maybe? She paused, she'd have to steadily channel it which was something she only did when she used Radiance and that required her to build up she light store's. She'd find no light for her down here and she wasn't even sure she be able to generate enough heat without her gear magnifying her power. She could try using kindling but that would require burning something and that ran the risk of punishment, along with she'd need air exchange or she'd kill herself of carbon monoxide.

She'd have to channel. Solar power was clean burning so she'd only have to worry about burning the meat and not suffocating herself.

Vrack had watched her spectacle in complete stupor. Was she trying to communicate with him? Of course she was she was looking right at him and trying to get his attention. What he couldn't figure out was what the lamp had to do with the meat she'd been neglecting. More so he'd never seen her touch meat before so why was she now? Did she need something? What did the lamp have to do with it?

What does this creature want?

Eventually she had stopped and began looking irritable irritable before going quiet. Whatever she wanted she had figured out she wasn't being clear and had silenced. This was both welcome and disappointing as he had been waiting for her to try and communicate and now she was giving up. He didn't want that. He wanted to learn and to do that he supposed he's have to encourage her.

"What is it you want? Why do you desire the lantern for your meal?" he asked. Hoping he'd get a response from her.

To his disappointment he did not get what he wanted but instead got something else.

The human named Nix looked up at him then behind him. Without warning she moved confidently up and past him, much to his alarm as he didn't expect her to be so forward. He went to grab his blade but she didn't even falter and grabbed a large metal plate on the wall. It was a decorative piece and he had no idea what she'd need it for. He stayed on high alert and suppressed the urge to stop her. Whatever she was doing he needed to let her do until he determined what it was, otherwise he could ruin this. He would not let his pride and caution ruin this again.

She went back to her side of the room and placed the meat on the metal plate. Putting both hands under it she sat down and closed her eyes.

Vrack could only watch in confusion as to what she was trying to do. Was she offering it to him? Why? It was her meal and Fallen did not eat such things. Was it a display of submitence? Couldn't be, she had been far too bold in her actions. He watched for what felt like forever and was about to leave her bee when he heard a soft hissing sound start. He looked around in confusion and alarm. Sniffing the air he couldn't smell a gas leak but he smelled something…something good? He didn't know but his nose lead him to her and the meat. Steam was coming off it and sure enough when he got close enough he could feel heat radiating.

Alarmed he looked under the metal and saw the soft flow of Solar energy running over her fingers and hands onto the metal. It was a soft red, orange, and yellow light that caressed it so softly. Nothing like the sudden blast's he'd seen destroy his kin. Concerned he looked at Nix and observed her face. She looked like she was in pain, or perhaps very focused? Her breathing wasn't laboured but it was heavy and controlled. To his surprise she opened one eye and didn't jump despite him being so close. They held a stared for a minute before she smiled and looked down at the meat. Following her gaze he saw it was changing color and smell.

"Cooking" She said and he understood what she was trying to say before.