Elaine was sitting in a corner of the deck, knees clamped around a large water bucket to steady it. She was staring at the contents of the bucket, as it bubbled slowly. "Ow," she hissed, and pulled her legs away, and the boiling stopped. She touched the bucket, tentatively, and then drew her hand back, wincing.

"Oi!" Starling slipped in beside her. "What's cooking?"

He offered a handful of cracked nuts. "Here, stealth requisitions."

Elaine grinned and snagged the nuts, popping one into her mouth. "I can boil things," she said, pointing to the bucket, which was now simmering. "But I can't turn them off."

"Does Grandmum know this yet?" He pulled out another handful for himself. "That seems like it'd be the first thing you'd want to figger out--turnin' stuff off. But . . . you can freeze too now," he pointed out, a little more thoughtfully. "Couldn't you like . . . go halfway to freezing and make it come out neutral?"

Elaine shrugged. "Not really," she said. She looked at the bucket, and its contents immediately solidified. "See?"

"Ah. All or nothin'. Hm." He tapped the bucket with the tip of his boot, rocking it gently. "Y'know, Grandmum does that to make things explode? Freezes 'em all at once. But I think she might be tryin' to steer you away from the lethal stuff, at least at first."

"I don't know about that," Elaine said, frowning at the bucket as the water slowly started to melt. "She had me freezing and boiling rats. That was pretty lethal,too."

"Well, rats is rats. It's not likely anyone would miss a rat." He shrugged. "You should bug her for more lessons."

"I'm getting lessons," Elaine answered. "She's been teaching me things. It's just this that's frustrating me," she said grumpily. "I don't want to accidentally boil someone."

"If you can get something to boil or freeze, it stands to reason you can make it not-quite-boil or not-quite-freeze." He rubbed her shoulder in consolation. "You're all knots. All else fails, you can still pour it over the side."