Despite their less-than-friendly footing, when Alex slips, Nova reaches out to catch her. Her pale hands settle on his arm and he flexes his arm, holding it rigid so that she can get steady. "Yeah, I know how that goes," he says. There's a little smear of that milk on his arm and Nova watches it bead and roll off his blackened skin.

"Don't know if this city is rougher or not than where you came from but it's probably weirder."