Title: That Girl is Something Else
Description: "There are many people in the Nexus that are special, but Nova is the most special of all. (Or, what happens to Li-Ming after the garage incident)."
Notes1: Been busy with work, as usual, as well as making time for beta-reading some non-HotS works. If my schedule for next week is to be believed, then I won't have any time for writing other than my lunch breaks and on my days off.
Notes2: I wasn't planning to do a follow-up to this in the beginning. It's just something that came to fruition over time. Plus, I wanted to see more Sylvanas/Nova/Li-Ming...er, "bonding", I guess? It's a very strange relationship they have. I can only imagine the kind of relationship Sylvanas had with Alleria and Vereesa before the Troll Wars and beyond.

"I'm sorry," Li-Ming mumbled, forehead kissing the dirt between her splayed hands.

Sylvanas pressed the heel of her boot down on the back of her head, eliciting a muffled grunt. "Louder, dammit!"

"I said, I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?"

Li-Ming said some strange, incoherent words.

"What was that?!"

The wizard pushed up with all her strength and threw the Banshee Queen's weight off her, spitting out dirt. "For calling you 'a special kind of special'! I didn't mean to insult you. Please forgive me for my harmless transgression." She glared at Sylvanas over her shoulder. Sylvanas bared her fangs.

Nova blinked. "Huh? That's all?"

"What do you mean, that's all?" Sylvanas asked. "She didn't sound very generous when she said it!"

"That's how I always sound!"

"You're going to sound a lot different if you keep acting like a total diva!" Sylvanas smacked a fist into an open palm.

"Now just because I said half the people aren't in their right mind doesn't mean I was insinuating in the slightest that Nova was part of that statistic!"

"'Course not," said Nova. "I still have my faculties in order. The Board wouldn't have me be in the Hero League otherwise. But hey, I can take a compliment. 'A special kind of special'? That's not something you hear every day." She reached into the bag she was holding, withdrew a veggie crisp, tossed it in her mouth and chewed. "Maybe I'll commission Gazlowe to make a medal. With a piece of glass in the middle. Never know when I might get petrified; have you ever taken a good look at Illidan's eyes?"

"Nova," Sylvanas said as patiently as she could, "he's a demon hunter, not a gorgon. And he's blind—sort of. I suppose in that addled brain of his we all look like demons."

Nova blinked again. "Is that what the blindfold's for? Wow, talk about being misinformed."

"Let me guess," said Li-Ming. "You heard it from the church-goers, didn't you? Say, the In-Betweeners? Or the Illuminated?"

"How'd you figure that out?"

"Because they're Nexian churches, Nova. They're no different than the ones we have in our own sectors. Some may be honest, but let's face it, there are going to be institutions that'll use any means necessary to bring in 'followers'. Your so-called charities, the cult-like sermons, the purification rituals where they smack your ass with a wooden paddle when they think you're giving in to the whispers of the Shadowlands but at the same time is used as some sort of 'punishment' round for their drinking games, the Bingo Thursdays—"

"I should have made the sensible decision to step in and stop you at the paddle part," Sylvanas said, "but what does bingo have to do with the churches spreading hyperbole?"

"Have you been to their fundraisers? Of course you haven't, but I'm just saying. It gets intense. Really intense. Sometimes the prizes aren't even prizes. I hear they put arcane circles under your seats so if you fill a row you might get electrocuted, or if time's running out on a round and you're at the bottom tier of the scoreboard the runes will light up and start setting your chair on fire. I think they're rubberized and element-resistant, though.

"That's great, but are they more intense than the shenanigans that go on in Jeetilopolis?" Nova asked. "Those guys are always in the news! Like, you don't even need the gang wars, the illegal street races, and the underground cockfights to put your name on the map. All it takes…is a single rocket-powered robo-chicken to explode in mid-flight while it's delivering telegrams…and you're in. Want one?" She held the bag of crisps out. Li-Ming reached over and took a carrot-colored cylinder.

"You can so much as breathe and you'll be the talk of the town," Sylvanas sniffed.

"Yes, there is that," said Li-Ming, chewing. "Oh, these are good. Let me have some more."

"Have at it." Nova pulled a corn yellow tube and extended her arm. Li-Ming dug in and withdrew a handful of crisps. "You want some, Sylvanas?"

"Are there any mana-flavored?" Not that Sylvanas was ever hungry, but waking up in the Hall always brought a phantom sensation of acquiring sustenance and rest.

Nova turned the bag around and read the label. "Aw shucks, I guess it doesn't. Come with me to the gas station later. I have to restock my pantry, anyway; Hammer keeps burning the hell outta the vegetable oil."

"I have to go pick up Doodle from the clinic."

"Hey, we can do that, too. I'm sure he misses you."

"I guess." Sylvanas shrugged. "I suppose I'll pick up some dog food along the way before it gets too late. You'll have to do the paying, though. I have," she sighed, scowling, "payments to make for the next…I don't know, several months to a few years, depending on the pace I go at. Damn Kael'thas. Come on." She waved for Nova to follow.

"Wait!" Li-Ming called out. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

Sylvanas looked back. "Kill you?"

"Yes! That's your usual shtick, is it not? You pretty much put it out there earlier: by taking me into the meadows on a nice, long walk, where no one can hear nor possibly see the aftermath of my seemingly criminal actions. Shouldn't that be the next step in your plan? Because you were one minute away from bodily separating my neck from my head with your foot and now you're…well, you're uncharacteristically…mellow." Li-Ming raised her hands palm-up. "What gives?"

"That was my original intention. Then Nova happened." Sylvanas appraised her, eyebrow raised, as though the Ghost was an unfinished science project. "You're not worth the trouble, on top of being too predictable."

"I'm a pro at diverting expectations!" Nova exclaimed proudly.

Sylvanas patted her on the shoulder, looking tired and somewhat commiserative. "So you are. You keep on doing that, I'll keep doing mine, and…I guess Li-Ming will do whatever Li-Ming does best."

"And disappointment's not one of them!" Li-Ming pelted after them and slung her arms around their necks when she caught up. She rallied them forward while ignoring the startled squawk blaring out of Sylvanas's mouth. "I am going to be right one of these days, and when it happens you will not feel the slightest sense of smug satisfaction! Count on it!"

Nova blew her lips and grinned, casually tossed the arm away. "Yeah, as if."

"I mean it, Nova! I mean every word I say! It may not happen today, it may not happen tomorrow, but by Light, Dark, and In-Between, it's going to happen someday! Any day, really! It is all a matter of chance and circumstance! Perhaps even providence!"

"It may not even happen."

"It will! It will. I guarantee it! May Isendra's ghost strike me down if I am wrong, it will!"

Sylvanas blew out a breath and rolled her eyes. "Kids these days," she grumbled, and waited for Isendra to smite Li-Ming from the heavens.