Pretty

"Aren't you a bit big for our dorm?"

November Anabella "Nova" Terra didn't spin around. She didn't blink. She didn't even scream like a broad in a mediocre holo that Zeb made her watch. Rather she stopped suddenly, secure in the knowledge that a) it was a child who had asked the question and b) there were worse punishments available than those used for a third-class Ghost trainee being present in a wing reserved for children. So, with all the composure she was able to muster, she turned round to face her accuser.

"You're a big boy to know that," said the teep sweetly. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

The child shrugged. "I can stay up as late as I want."

I bet.

The kid could almost certainly read minds (unless another Cistler had been brought in), so Nova's quib was just as effective being thought as it would have been if said out loud. Still, the youngest daughter of Constantino Terra nonetheless activated her psi-screen, not wanting the kid to read her mind any further as she collected her thoughts. Being down here wasn't too grievous an infraction, but her motives for being here might have been. Motives that stemmed from another child that she'd kept seeing leading up to her promotion to third-class trainee, prompting Nova to once again go solo and find out who the child was she kept seeing and what he was doing in the wing reserved for elder trainees.

"Anyway," said Nova decisively, harkening back to Old Family decorum. "It's been nice meeting you, but I have...adult work to attend to, and...why are you following me?"

The boy didn't answer as he walked after the Ghost Academy's prodigy, seemingly oblivious to the contrast between them. He was young, short, around ten years old at most and reminded Nova of the unlucky sods that had fallen victim to Fagin's psychosis-young and, for the most part, harmless. In contrast, she was tall, had blonde hair that contrasted with his dark brown and clad in her training suit, carried more confidence in her trigger finger than the child did in his entire body.

Wish Cistler was still here. He would have scared this boy off without a second thought.

Or he might drug him and wind him up with Lio. And as problematic as this child was, Nova didn't want any harm to come to him. And indeed, he might prove useful...

"Say..." began the telepath slowly, kneeling down so that her head was just above the child's. "Maybe you can help me."

It was sweet at best or just plain sad at worst how the boy's features lit up in happiness at those words. "Sure! I'll help!"

"Right..." said Nova slowly, wishing that he'd talk a bit more softly and that he didn't remind her of the acts she sometimes pulled on her parents in her old life. "See, I'm looking for a boy like you. Bit younger perhaps, but..."

"But what?" the boy asked.

Bit more mature for starters.

"Never mind," said Nova awkwardly, hoping that she wouldn't have to deal with children in field ops. "I think his last name is Phash, or Phish, something like that. Still, there's no record of him that I can find, and since he may have come from your dormitory into ours..."

The child put a finger to his cheek in a motion that would have seemed exaggerated for an adult, but seemed normal for him. What such a child was doing in the Ghost Academy was a bit of a mystery, psionic powers aside. True, all children had to report in to serve the Dominion upon detection of a PI of 5 or greater, but there were still exceptions. Nova herself was one.

Wish it had stayed that way...

Glancing out a window at the night sky, Nova wondered how many light years Tarsonis was from here. It wasn't something she thought of much, especially knowing that graduating was the only way she could lose her memories of the hell she'd gone through in the Gutter and the death of her family, but still, she occasionally had second thoughts. More so than usual in recent times. And the boy before her reminded her of it. Maybe not in age, but certainly in innocence. Just another reason to get away from the brat as soon as possible.

If he ever makes up his mind that is...

"Can't say I know anyone by that name," said the boy eventually. "Sorry."

"No problem," Nova lied, wondering how she was going to make any progress in her search for the mystery trainee if this was the level of intelligence she'd have to deal with. "I'll keep searching for...for..."

The telepath didn't finish her sentence, though "the sound of heavy feet" definitely wasn't going to be at the end of it. Unfortunately, that was what she heard. Someone was nearing the corner. Someone with heavy footfalls that betrayed their importance and ability to get Nova into trouble for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Great. I'll be caught out with this numbskull to watch-...

"In here."

This time, Nova actually blinked.

Either she'd looked as worried as she felt, or the boy was more perceptive than she gave him credit for. Either way, he was gesturing towards a closet used to store broom-bots and other cleaning devices. The same type of closet that Nova had found Clara doing something with a boyfriend of hers that...well, even now, the Ghost wasn't sure what that technique was called. Still, safe in the knowledge that the boy didn't even know what the word intercourse meant, she slid in. And given how soon voices filtered down the hall, just in the nick of time.

"Trainee. What are you doing out at this time of night."

"Sorry superintendant. Had a bad dream."

Ignoring the smell of cheap oil, Nova pressed an ear to the door. The adult voice sounded like that of Superintendant Angelini and given how the boy addressed him, probably was. All things considered, definitely the last person she wanted to see.

"Is there something you want to tell me trainee?"

"Pardon?"

"Anything strange or unusual you've seen? Anything you want to get off your chest?"

Uh-oh...

Could Angelini read her mind? Unlikely, given the psi-screen, but the man and whatever psionic powers he possessed were an enigma. And even without them, it was probably fair to say that he could tell when he was being lied to. So when the boy said that he'd seen nothing, Nova waited for the inevitable indignant exclamation...

"Alright then. Carry on."

...or not.

Breathing softly, Nova waited for the footsteps to fade before bursting out of the cupboard. She breathed a little easier when she saw the kid standing outside like a sentinel, all alone. Kind of like Delta really...

Delta. I helped her because it was the right thing to do. Yet I looked down on this guy.

"Um...thanks," said Nova awkwardly, looking down at the newbie. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, why...why did you help me?"

"You're pretty."

Nova blinked again. This time, she did another one for good measure. Out of all the possible responses the boy could have given her, out of all the possible motives he could have had for helping her, physical appearance was the last one she'd have thought possible. And added to which was the fact that no-one had called her any such thing since...well, since her fifteenth birthday actually, it came as a bit of a shock.

"Pretty?" Nova stuttered. "You think I'm...I'm..."

"Yeah!" exclaimed the kid. "You look pretty! You're a nice person!"

...dear God, he's lost it.

Maybe that was a bit unfair. The boy was perfectly sane, certainly more so than the last teek who'd been reduced to a vegetable. But even so, Nova wasn't sure how to deal with childhood crushes. Morgan had been easy to deal with, even Freddie and Billy. But how did you shatter the infatuations of an infant?

"Listen..." said the Ghost trainee awkwardly. "You're a nice guy and all, but...well, I'm not really into that kind of stuff and..."

"Oh. Okay," said the boy, taking the rejection (was it even a rejection? It was hard to say) well. "But we can still be friends right?"

"Um, sure. Why not?"

The boy didn't answer. Neither did Nova. After all, what was to stop her from being a friend with someone younger than her. She'd helped Delta hadn't she, treated her as a normal person despite her illiteracy. Why should she treat this guy any different.

"Well, I'll see you," said the child. "Bye miss..."

"Nova. What's your name?"

It was a formality really. Still, the least Nova could do was learn the child's name. That's what friends did, right? Apparently the kid thought so too. And as such, he told her.

"John Raynor."

A/N

I wrote this as part of a request for a oneshot with Nova in it, though the idea itself came from the sclegacy forums, with the idea being suggested that John Raynor could be Nova's boyfriend or words to that effect. Given the age difference between the two, I found the idea strange at best and disturbing at worst. Nova may be many things, but a child abuser isn't one of them (or, as John is likely dead, a necrophile). Still, the idea for a friendship based fic rather than a romance based one stuck in my head.