"Nahhh!" 

She stood before him, showcasing her ultimate trick. Something that not even he, an x-man of renown, could do.....!

She booped herself on the nose with her own tongue. 

Not waiting for a grand standing of cheer and applause, the pink haired woman also moved onto her second most popular party trick.

She stuck the tip of her tongue up into one of her nostrils. 

"Taa-daa!" Then she grinned like an idiot, but had the decency to at least flush a little in the cheeks.

The walk from the danger room back to his room hadn't taken all that long, specially with her asking about all of the things he had done inside, and him explaining to some degree. Now that she wasn't n the moment, a lot of it had been pretty spectacular. Just the fact that he had fought and beaten a giant evil rainbow manatee was pretty neat! He had mentioned a video of it at one point. She demanded excitedly to see it again, as she had missed the flashy ending.

When they were safely back in his room she took a seat at the end of his bed and let him take over with what to do about the insect trapped in the cup. She watched as he fished out the tank he had mentioned, which still had rocks and little plastic plants inside, and as he got it set up for their six legged captive. 

It was around that point that she was praying that the roach was actually a spy an that she hadn't hallucinated the weird bits and gone on a rampage in the danger room for nothing. What was she gonna do if it was really just a regular roach?

Die of embarrassment, that's what.

While he got the thing ready, she glanced back down at her hand and sighed. It wasn't a big wound... hardly even a little gouge in her palm... but it was kinda deep. The bug had certainly been intent at getting her to let it go, that much was for sure. She was morbidly reminded of that mafia torture technique with rats and buckets... Bleh. Not a thought for someone with a sensitive stomach to linger on.

Laughter and applause ensued as the artist showed off her talents. Saph shook his head as he chuckled away. He had to admit, he gave it a try as well, but his tongue was tragically normal lengthed.

"Worth the wait." He gave a thumbs up. They got to work setting up the jail for their espionage based guest. While he was at it he'd grabbed the med kit too. Setting up the tank had been easy as pie.

He knew that she didn't seem to want to make a big deal out of it, but her hand was definitely paining her. The scrappy mutant gently steered her to the bed and sat her down.

He grabbed her hand and looked at it. "Believe it or not, I get beat up a bit in my line of work. I know, Weird. I'm pretty good at patching things up though. S'gonna hurt a bit. Gotta clean it." They didn't know where that roach had been, right? He started with peroxide, grabbing her shoulder to comfort her while he dabbed the wound with the other hand. Once it was clean he would pad it and immediately start wrapping it with gauze.

She didn't actually react to the peroxide, but appreciated the comfort all the same. Her hand certainly hurt, but not enough for her to hiss and sputter over it. She did quirk a sideways smile at Saph, though, while she watched him work from the corner of her eyes.

"Who you? Get beat up? Never." Never mind that the first time she'd really met him he'd been a literal walking map of bruises. She could have traversed her way to Alaska only using his face as guidance.

It was kinda cute how he was fretting over her. The hand on her shoulder was large and warm. She glanced at it a moment before she dropped her gaze back down to where he was cleaning her wound. The interaction almost seemed familiar. Like something close friends or lovers would do... Soft warmth filled her cheeks and she looked away to the tank situated across the room on his desk. She could see the little bug scurrying around inside of it. What was it doing?

A sharp stinging sensation brought her back to her hand and she glanced at him again. It looked like he was fully concentrating on her. Like he was playing nursemaid and she was the patient. A most abstract feeling overcame her, and she licked her lips. She wondered, maybe just slightly, if he...

Her eyes slid closed as she leaned in and pressed her lips hesitantly to his own.

Lost in a careful concentration, he hardly had time to react as she leaned in to kiss him. His eyes widened for a moment, and then closed slowly. He pressed forward ever so softly, a sign that he definitely wasn't going to pull away, and then let it end as simply as it started.

He was lost for words for a second, looking down at her hand. "uh... Yeah, so how's that feel?" She kissed him. That answered that question, then. His heart beat heavily in his chest, machine-gunning out a nervous tune.

Was he ready for this?

He had to admit, it didn't feel wrong. Not in the least. It felt kinda right. This week had been... Horrifying, even to him. In juxtaposition to those terrible moments, moments like today seemed... perfect. Hell. He couldn't make meeting Shelby a bad thing if he tried.

@#$% it. He leaned in to kiss her again.

This was for him. She was pretty, nice, and REAL. He didn't feel like he would need to change a damned thing about himself to meet some sort of strange self imposed standard. He'd felt that way with Andrea. He liked that. He liked her.

And he sure as hell liked this.


Eric let out the closest thing a cockroach could to an exasperated sigh as they started their make-out section. What the hell man! He'd exerted all of that effort to spell out a message in the little rocks in his cell, the least they could do was take notice!

He pressed back, reciprocating. She smiled slightly against his lips. When he pulled away it was still present on her mouth. She dropped her eyes to her hand, freshly bandaged in clean white. She flexed it for good measure. "Seems fine."

She caught him seemingly off in his own little word out of the corner of her eye and briefly wondered if the kiss had been a bad decision. Maybe she should have asked first? But that just felt so... proper. So formal, and she was as far from formal as she could get. She shifted slightly on the bed, weighing words in her head.

Then he moved and she looked toward him. Their lips locked again and all thoughts that she'd been too forward flew right out the window. She lifted a hand to his jaw, gently touching him, and rested the other on his shoulder. It felt nice, and if it was selfish of her to want it then she was more than happy to be greedy in that moment. She'd had a few awkward flings here or there with college boys from parties... nothing stable or satisfying. She hadn't really tried anything like that since moving away from Seattle. She'd been far to busy to invest any time in anything other than studying.

Shifting slightly, she moved forward into the kiss. Raising herself off of the bed in order to meet him on even ground so he wouldn't have to lean down into her. In doing so the hand on his shoulder shifted to lazily drape around his neck and her hair shifted forward around their faces.

Eric has been forgotten for the moment. Eric could hold his f%$in' horses.

Saph struggled to describe the feelings inscribed in this experience in his mind, it was difficult to. One kiss had turned to two, which became three, four, moor. She moved to match his height, and he grabbed her hips to pull her closer, pressing their bodies together. Those were the words: Hot as @#$^.

Another few kisses prompted him to lean her back, letting her adjust so that they were parallel with the floor.

He let the moment dominate his every being, careful to let her dictate how far it went, but not stopping to let second thoughts take hold.

Eric's front legs popped up as high as the short appendages could, and smacked against the glass noiselessly a few times until he gave up. Hopelessly, he rested his head against the wall, shaking it slowly.


The world suddenly went dark as Saphirus's T-shirt landed on it.

**Fade to Black**

Some time later Shelby sat up, wearing a shirt that wasn't hers and rubbing her eyes with the back of one hand. What time was it? She shrugged off a familiar sense of deja vu and glanced over at the man snoozing beside her. It brought a smile to her face. 

Running a hand through her hair, which at this point had given up at looking at all presentable, she scooted towards the end of the bed to drape her legs over. His blanket was wrapped around her waist snug and warm. She really didn't want to get up, but she needed to pee and her bladder would protest against her if she held it in any longer. Gingerly she slid out from covers, tugging the end of the shirt down to cover her tush and padded across the room to his bathroom.

A few minutes later she exited, looking a bit more awake. Climbing just as gingerly back into the bed she slithered under the covers and snuggled up into Saph's warmth. She knew she couldn't sleep for the rest of the day... night... whatever, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to steal a few more pleasant moments for herself before it was back to normal.

Smiling with the blanket drawn up to frame her face, she wriggled closer to him and closed her eyes. She didn't know where her glasses had gone, and didn't care for the moment.

Oh man, he was out like a light! What could he say? Nothing, because he was sleeping, but if he could say something, he'd say "That was great. All three times." He could have slept another week after last... night? Day? Was it tomorrow yet? He was roused by the feeling of her getting back into bed, but he stayed in place, grunting a little bit.

It was a pleasant way to wake up, to another person pressing themselves into you... It had been a while since he'd felt that warmth. It really was something else.

He shifted a bit to look down at her, smiling a bit, and speaking in a hushed voice. "That escalated quickly."

He chuckled and leaned in to give her a peck on the lips before laying back again.

"Running theme here, but any idea what time it is?" He couldn't really tell if it was really early or really late by looking at the slight bit of light coming from the window with the blinds closed.

He held her in his arms, staring at the ceiling for a moment.

"You hungry?"

She chuckled, further burrito-ing into his arms and the blankets. "No kidding." She hadn't exactly planned on jumping into someones bed today, but she regretted nothing. The quick peck to the lips brought warmth to her cheeks and she giggled, ducking her face out of sight.

At his comment about the time she hummed in response. "I dunno. We could just go with really late, and then we won't have to get up until tomorrow morning." Her smile shifted into a grin.

"You hungry?" She shifted then, escaping her blanket cocoon in order to lean over him with one arm supporting her on the other side. Her hair framed her face like a pink halo and she angled a sh-- eating grin down at him. "I thought you'd never ask!" Then she grabbed the edge of the blanket, hauled it back over them, and attacked!

[Fade to black]

****

A bit later she was wriggling her jeans back on and stuffing her hair into a messy ponytail. She'd managed to track down her glasses and t-shirt, although she had been tempted just to keep his. "You want eggs and bacon?" She was planning on heading down to the kitchen to grab breakfast, even though it was close to midnight. What did that make it? Midfest? She mentally shrugged. "I can grab OJ too, unless you want something else?"

She turned, smiling at him, and pecked him on the cheek. When she had her answer she let herself out and hurried toward the kitchen. It would be the first time she had actually used the space, since she had just chosen to stock up on crackers and plain instant oat meal packets for her daily meals. But, she was in a generous mood and willing to try for Saph.

Sleepyness ebbed as he put his arm behind his head, and she leaned over him. "Yer pretty." He managed to get out before she swept him into round 4.

Afterwards, he sat against the wall of the bed, grinning widely. "Damn. You're amazing." He wiped sweat from his brow, and looked up at the ceiling, wondering if there was a god to thank for today. She offered to make breakfast. He thought for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah, I'll get ready and check out our new friend."

He'd been too spent to get dressed with her. He lazily reached out for his boxers ad climbed into them as she made her way out. He watched her go, and then laid back on his bed for a second after she left.

Holy @#$%... That was great. That was perfect. Maybe the world was about to end or something. He supposed maybe Karma was looking out for him after all that life saving business. He sat up slowly, an then looked over to the covered fish tank.

No way this thing was for real, right? It was just some poor bug in the wrong place at the wrong time. He shrugged and hopped out of bed to throw his pants on. He then walked over to retrieve his shirt and give it a sniff. Maybe not. He tossed it into the dirty clothes pile, and walked over to get a fresh one. (which had a picture of a level 99 magikarp on it)

He turned to look at the tank again, and saw something... strange.

"No shit?" He took a closer look, leaning down to see the word

PARLEY

Written in little blue rocks.

"No... @#$%in shit."

She found her way into the kitchen and spent a few moments digging for a pan and spatula. Once she found her tools she turned to the fridge and procured the foods.
The bacon itself she instantly regretted offering to make... but forced herself to push through it. She could deal with the mild nausea from the sight and smell. As long as she didn't try to eat any of it she was sure she would be good.

A few minutes later she had a plate loaded up with a few eggs and a pile of bacon. She figured that he could use the protein after the night that they had had.

Her cheeks flushed and she deposited the dirty dishes in the sink before snatching up the food and drinks. For herself she'd procured a little bowl of plain oats and a bottle of water. She really still couldn't stomach much else, no matter how hard she tried.

Making her way back up to the room, she found quite a dilemma when she realized that she couldn't get the door open with her hands full. With her bare feet, she attempted to knock for entrance.

Saph had been busy while she was out.

When he heard the scuffling at the door, he opened it quickly, took the plate from her, and walked back into the room. "You gotta see this #@$^! It's un @#$^in believable!" He sat in front of the little aquarium, a pen and pad of paper in hand, staring intently into the tank.

"E-R-I-C... Eric. This dude's #$^&ing NAME... Is Eric. He's got a doddam name. @#$^ me. I mean, not again. I think you're gonna kill me. Maybe in another hour. Damn, though, I mean if you're up for it now, but things are going on. Meet Eric." He pointed to the little cockroach, and took a bite of bacon.

"Oh... Thanks for breakfast! You're... well. Damn. Right?" He was wired. He'd seen a lot of things before, but thinking, communicating bug that wasn't human sized? Where did it put all that brain "It wrote us a freakin message in the rocks, like some kinda stranded sailor. I gave it my- um... A decoder ring I found. Probably Elkes." He pointed to the little bug, slowly twisting about the ring, and pointing to letters.

He started writing.

"P-L-E-A-S-E got it. please. D-O-N-T.. Don't.... H-A-V-E .... Have what? S-E-X A-G-A-I-N..."

... He looked over to Shelby, and grinned.

Woah. He was wired!

She blinked as he took the plates from her and hurried back into the room. She followed after with a chuckle and shut the door behind her on the way in. She plopped down next to him and grabbed her water bottle as he started to ramble on about all the things he'd explained.

The little guy had a name apparently, and it was Eric. She nodded, slowly unscrewing the cap from her bottle. She started to take a slow sip as the bug started messing with the ring, watching with obvious curiosity as he spelled out a message.

"P-L-E-A-S-E got it. please. D-O-N-T.. Don't.... H-A-V-E .... Have what? S-E-X A-G-A-I-N..."

She promptly spit her water out and choked. Red flushed into her face and she sputtered incoherently for a moment.

"We are totally not!"

She turned her attention back to the bug, bending down to his level a bit. "Why are you following me?"

"We are totally not!"

"We aren't?" He grinned again, clearly joking.

He looked to Eric for his response to her question.

H-E-Y-M-A-N-I-J-U-S-T-W-O-R-K-H-E-R-E

Saph blinked, and turned to her, handing her the pad and pen. Her hand writing was probably better than his anyway.

"Eric, you mean this is a job for you?"

Y-E-A-H-T-H-A-T-S-W-H-A-T-I-S-A-I-D

"Huh... so... you and Roach aren't like... of one mind, then?"

N-O-M-A-N-H-E-S-J-U-S-T-M-Y-B-O-S-S

"What'd he say that time? Didn't get it all."

He dug into breakast, letting Shelby have her time with their captive. It was a satisfying meal. He took note of her bland food choice. She was still having trouble... He couldn't blame her. He would never look at salad the same way. Blood sausage was out of the question.

She jotted down the letters quickly, compiling a short narrative of sorts on paper.

"He said Roach is just his boss." She tapped the pen against her chin and frowned. "Eric, you said you just work for him, but he must have given you some sort of instructions. What does he have you specifically looking for?" She really wanted to know why it was her he seemed to have fixated on. Why he had chosen an insignificant little human to torment instead of someone more worthy. Maybe it was a power thing?

She glanced at Saph, satisfied that he was happy with the food. She felt accomplished even though she hadn't really cooked anything for herself, or anyone else, for many months.

Eric set about spelling out another message, which she jotted down quickly.