[ Her head tilts a little, because she actually never set out to learn defensive spells. Fire came because it was what Nadine introduced first; the lightning was borne from gut-wrenching pain that lasted weeks. She kept refining them because she didn't know what else to try. Though she has absolutely used fire as a threat before -- turns out that not much shuts down a creep quicker than "I can literally light you on fire with my mind". ] I guess. I didn't actually mean to learn stuff that could be a weapon, but then again, I guess anything can be if you try hard enough. [ She briefly mimes a stabbing. ] Pencil through an eye'll stop most things in their tracks.

[ Honestly, Julie wishes she were more surprised to find out that his origin story is somehow even worse than she already knew. Unfortunately, it's no great shock that it can all just be chalked up to more incredible cruelty. It doesn't seem worth dwelling on.

She taps the flower against his fingers, as if it were an extension of her hand. ] Better them be disappointed than you get stuck with some shitty "ability" 'cause of 'em. Imagine if you had like, a giant frog tongue, stickin' to everything. They didn't know what they were doin', it was just as likely as gettin' something good.