With a soft sigh Nikolai sank back into the couch and closed his eyes for a moment while he listened to her talk. It wouldnâ€™t hurt to try again, practice makes perfect after all, but at the same time he was becoming increasingly more tired. He knew he still had a good amount of energy left but he was still recovering from his wounds even if Pearl had helped speed up the process. Absently his gaze went to the fire and he thought about how warm it was, how much he liked watching the fire dance in the fireplace; it was relaxing. At one point it had become almost hypnotizing and he could feel himself slowly beginning to drift off. Immediately he shook it off and blinked a few times then looked back to Paarl and flashed her that awkward smile like he always did.<br/><br/>Maybe it would just be better off if he just got some sleep so he could heal up completely but at the same time he wanted to practice magic. Sometimes he could be a little stubborn like that. However, the yawn that left him geared his mind towards sleep and he slowly found himself giving in to the temptation even if he didnâ€™t really want to. Exhaling softly he ran a hand over his face and sank back further against the couch, trying not to show how tired he was at the moment. Knowing his luck with hiding himself it was probably pretty obvious how tired he was. Humans were easier to fool, but this girl seemed to have him read pretty well at least when it came to certain things. It was kind of amusing now that he thought of it.<br/><br/>â€œAlright,â€ Nikolai said finally as she shook of another wave of sleepiness that threatened to take him away. â€œIâ€™ll give it another shot, practice makes perfect, right?â€ He probably sounded a bit more energetic than he should have but he went with it in hopes of shaking off his tiredness.<br/><br/>Concentrating he leaned forward and placed his hand out to the fire, able to feel how warm it was from where he was once again. Thoughts ran through his mind of when he manipulated the fire earlier and eventually he got the fire to where it was dancing a little while he moved his hand. He smiled at his success, noticing he was doing a bit better than the last attempt though the progress wasnâ€™t much. Had he slept a bit before trying again it would have probably went a bit smoother. Baby steps, he told himself, watching the flames dance more. Focusing on the flame was not really hard for the most part in spite of being so tired; it gave him something to do that prevented him from sleeping. Even the sound of the storm was blocked out for a moment; he really was getting into this.<br/><br/>He may not have been able to get the fire out of the fire place and have it dance around the room but it was nice to know he could manipulate it. Besides, he really didnâ€™t want to end up burning anything if he lost control because of his tiredness so he just stuck to the basics. As Pearl had said, he should become the fire, and he was doing just fine with that at least in his opinion. With a smile, â€œWell would you look at that!â€ he said softly, sitting back against the couch again as he played around with the flames a bit more. Nikolai began to feel relaxed again, but he was still focused and kept the fire under his control, amused by what he could do with it now. Part of him wanted to experiment with it a bit more but he, still, kept to the basics.<br/><br/>This wasnâ€™t something he should rush, he knew. Just because he felt comfortable moving the flame didnâ€™t mean he was ready for the next step.