-- for another moment, hesitating. "How did you know about that?"

There was a long silence as Noel hesitated. He eventually opened the door, just a crack, and peeked through it. He opened it wider immediately when he recognised one of the superheros. Was that...?

Noel looked over the three of them, looking surprised now. "Aren't you Superboy...?" He paused--

-- the apartment before a voice called: "Can I help you?"

The door was a little odd. The rest of the doors in the hallway were identical, and actually appeared like they were made to be front doors. Noel's door looked like it was stolen from one of the doorways inside his apartment. Like it was a bedroom door.

There was a long silence from inside --

-- course of action.

Noel nodded once. "Okay... Show me."

With the new understanding of her intentions, Noel allowed himself to consider the offer. So far, he had been feeling his way through his power blindly. Given how it had gone so far, he knew something had to change. Having someone who knew magic who was willing to teach him seemed like the best --

Noel didn't flinch away from her. He understood her motivation now, understood the kinship of someone who had overcome the same adversity.

"Noel."

Noel looked towards her hesitantly, swallowing hard. "... I'm sorry," he said quietly. "... No one should ever have to go through that."

Noel looked at the woman sharply, then looked away again, pressing his lips together into a hard line. He didn't like being vulnerable to people, much less strangers. And especially with 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴...

Noel furrowed his brows, back to being suspicious. In his experience, help wasn't usually free. People were rarely just kind.

"Why would you want to do that for me?"

Noel's face twisted and he looked away. His power had once again harmed God knows how many people... and yet, it couldn't even save him.

He really did do more harm than good.

Noel somehow found this comforting. At least she was honest.

"Do you know what happened to me? Why I was taken?" he asked her. Hopefully this woman had answers, because Noel had none.

So she had come into that place and brought him back to her house. Noel was immediately suspicious, despite having plenty of encounters with superheros in the past.

"Why? Why save me?"

Well that didn't really help. Noel still had no idea who she was or why he was here.

The last thing he remembered was... "... Those dogs... those things..."

Noel shrugged. "It happens... at least you weren't hurt. The last guy who broke into my place got thrown clear across the apartment and dislocated his shoulder... and my cabinets."

His landlord hadn't been too pleased about that either.

Noel did not, in fact, feel safe.

He eyed the strange woman with suspicion. "... Who are you?"

-- already, but he didn't really want to go into it with a complete stranger.

Noel set the cleaning supplies down and reached up to accept the mug. "Thanks," he mumbled, taking a sip of the coffee.

"I don't really know," Noel told him. "He just shows up when I feel threatened." Noel knew there was more to it than that, and Coda had deduced that Noel had created him --

--

"Oat milk and sugar," he told him. "Mugs are in the upper left cabinet."

Noel's body relaxed just a little when he smelled the coffee. It had always been a comforting smell to him. He was still very tense though, after what he'd experienced.

He was dabbing at the bloodstains with the paper towel and peroxide, as Coda had recommended, seated on the floor.

--

-- where he slept.

-- away, the disembodied voice taunting him and being unable to move, the horrors he'd been forced to relive...

With a sharp gasp, Noel bolted upright, eyes quickly taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. He scooted back automatically when he saw another person there, sitting not far from --

Horrors plaguing his dreams weren't unusual for Noel. When his eyelids parted, he was greeted by the familiar feeling of anxiety that came with them.

After a few moments though, Noel recalled the recent events that had transpired: the Hell Hounds breaking into his house and dragging him --

-- you want to make us coffee, you can." He pointed towards the kitchen, where he had a coffee maker, grinder, etc. set up on the counter. "I only have oat milk though."

"... Keeping busy helps," Noel admitted. He didn't particularly like cleaning, nor was he very good at it, but for some reason, that was what his brain told him he needed to do after traumatic situations occurred.

He did appreciate the instruction, though. He would have scrubbed.

"If --

Noel set the bottle and the scrub on the floor, then grabbed a roll of paper towels. He sat down on his knees.

"I'm fine. Probably could use a coffee, but I'm fine... I'm not going to watch a stranger clean my house while I sit on the couch. That'd feel weird."

-- anything to the floor, I think... he's going to be pissed... a rug will do for now, I think. Don't feel like you're obligated to get me one, but it's a nice thought."

Noel actually did have some hydrogen peroxide left, miraculously. He pulled the brown bottle from his cabinet, and a scrub brush.

When he walked over, he looked at the state of his old rug and sighed. He would need to replace that anyway.

"I have to ask my landlord before doing --

-- floor," he called, his head in the cabinet, "I don't know if sanding and re-staining it will be worth it."

Noel sighed. That sounded like a lot of work. "Thanks..." he stood up and went under his kitchen sink, sorting through the various cleaning chemicals to see if he still had any hydrogen peroxide sitting around. It had been some time since he'd needed it.

"Considering the scratches on the --