So... Saphirus was the kind of person who had to be doing something most of the time. He'd spent his whole life being proactive in anything he did, even if those things weren't particularly productive. By the time Shelby called the guy again, he'd cleared up a rather large area, and was sitting on a pile of corn stalks, staring aimlessly at nothing.

"Jesus... I'm bored. Has it been ten minutes yet?" He looked up to see Shelby already calling the guy. He was about to stand and give the dude an ear full when he noticed that she seemed to have things under control. He leaned back into his makeshift chair folding his arms across his chest.

When she got off, he gave her a bit of a look. "The eh... CornStalker, huh? Great... So... What do you wanna do for four hours?" He looked up at the sky, which, now that he noticed, was a bit warped as well. "I got an idea..." Saph climbed to his feet, and gathered up some dried corn husks, easily finding a good pile of them. He then pulled out a lighter, don't ask why he has one, and started their personal fire. He set some stalks close to the flame so that they would dry out quick, and be used as fuel. He figured if they were conservative, they had a good couple of hours of fire. "Worst case, we're warm, best case, someone notices and checks it out. Want some roasted corn?"

Why not, right?

She tilted her head when she realized what he'd done. They had a nice little area carved out and... he was starting a fire. A corn fire. She scratched her head as she wandered closer and plopped on down.

"Sure... why not. The first one I had was pretty good anyway." She settled herself comfortably close to their little fire, but not close enough that she'd start sweating in her costume. Her bat suit was pretty darn warm on its own, without any help.

Then she crisscrossed her legs and twined her hands together. "....Sooo..." She glanced around. "Now what?" They were still trapped, and hopefully her little plan wasn't making things worse for them. She supposed she'd find out the closer they got to seven.

She glanced at her phone again, impatiently.

Before long, they were eating unevenly cooked corn and sitting quietly in little piles of corn stalks, all the while burning more corn for their tiny fire.

"Huh.. You got netfrix on your phone? I could turn this into a love seat, and we could watch a movie." He patted the pile next to him and waggled his eyebrows.

It didn't take a whole lot of perceptive knack to know that sitting and waiting here didn't sit super well with him. His eyes still looked about, as if trying to find a way to escape. He seemed less tense than he had been when he thought Roach had set this up, but he wasn't the type to sit idly at someone else's mercy.

"You got any ideas? I spy?"

Her expression fell a little. What... what exactly was he doing? She'd nibbled on some corn (some pretty awful corn, too...) "... Uh.. I mean, we'll probably end up needing our phones if this ends up being a crap-shoot." She angled her screen at him, which was black and white in plain battery saver mode.

Then she eyed him a little, prodding at the small fire halfheartedly with a corn stalk. "Erm... I spy..." She looked around. "... Something exceedingly boring. Never have liked that game."


"... You don't do this very often, do you?" She shifted some purple hair out of her eyes, tugging her fuzzy hood back up. "And I mean sit, not get trapped in a corn maze by a lame upstart super villain."

Shelby glanced around, before glancing back down at her phone. Not a peep, yet.

Well, the I spy thing was a bit of a joke, partially because they were surrounded by corn stalks and nothing else, but he still looked off to the side sheepishly as she asked him about him not doing this very often.

"I dunno, I guess I do when I'm on security, but then there is usually something goin on at the school. Some fire to put out... No, I guess not. Not one of my talents..." He sighed and scratched the the back of his head nervously.

"Not really what I'm geared for, I guess... How bout you? I dunno what Shelby's life looked like before I came into the picture." He supposed they could just talk about stuff... they hadn't really talked about much at all; nothing serious at least.

"Why'd you leave home? Lotsa good art schools in Seattle, right? Ain't that what they're known for? Being depressed and expressing themselves?" It was a gross overgeneralisation, but that was the honest impression that area gave off to the rest of the world... And that they made planes and computers.

"Why'd you leave home? Lotsa good art schools in Seattle, right? Ain't that what they're known for? Being depressed and expressing themselves?"

She let out a snort of laughter. "Well, I mean... you aren't entirely off." She fiddled with the broken piece of foliage a bit more. "There were quite a few schools I had my eye on, and for a while I was just taking classes at a community collage local to me. Still life's, nude figure drawings. Lots of art history classes." She tossed the broken bit into the flames, watching as they wilted under the heat.

"I could have gone to one of the schools in Seattle, but I would have had to change my style quite a bit in order to 'fit in'. Seattle, well... I think a lot of the art industry is turning away from the old format, into the new age of art. A lot of schools are shifting away from Oils technique classes, into digital art. There are really only a few places worth the effort that teach art in all of its forms the proper way, instead of gearing everything toward the digital age."

She shifted a little again. "I thought about a school in California, too... and of course there is Paris. Rome... lots of places drowning in art. The New York institute stood out in the sense that it offered a lot. Like... everything, nearly. And a lot of it just so happens to be the forms and methods i'm fond of." She drew up a knee, wrapping her arms around the leg and resting her chin on it.

"Before that... well... When my friends mentioned that i'm a shut in, there was some truth to that. I invest my energy in people and activities I deem worth it, and reserve the rest of it for any social activities I am required to participate in. School, work, study groups, field trips... In case you haven't noticed, i'm not particularly fond of most people. I tend to avoid interaction if I can. You, and Olivia, Derrick, and... Jen... You guys are unique situations."

Saph listened to her quietly as she talked, picking apart pieces of corn husks absent mindedly as a way of keeping his hands occupied. To be honest, she lost him a bit when talking about some of the finer points of art but he got that the other schools didn't teach the kind of art she wanted to do. "Still... It's a big leap, to leave home. I like to act like I am street smart, but if I left New York I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

She mentioned her natural desire to be alone and not interact with people, and his head sorta tilted a bit, before he chuckled. "I dunno about all that... You were at the mansion, what, three days, and you were already making friends? Then again, that place has a way of working its way into people's heads. Changes you... For the better, I think."

He nodded. He knew the mansion had changed him... Then again, he'd wanted to change.

"I wasn't the best person before I ended up there... Got a lot to thank it for."

She pushed her glasses up higher on her nose and pursed her lips. "See, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a 'big leap'. Keep in mind that I've been moving around pretty consistently since I learned to count. At that point in my life it was less of a scary thing to do and more of a normalized unknown." She sighed slightly. "Though, i'm not going to lie... part of what made it so easy to leave is how boring that particular chapter of my life was. I was done with high school, had a very boring job and a very clingy boyfriend, who was not at all happy when I eventually broke the news that I was leaving for New York for four years."

She chuckled dryly, remembering how awful and awkward that had been. "I'm not gonna pretend I've had the easiest time here... but in most ways this is just a bigger version of Seattle. You can find your way around in blocks, and as long as you keep to yourself you don't get mugged too often."

She grinned at his mention of the School. "I can agree with that. I think most places where good people congregate tend to be like that."

She tilted her chin slightly when he mentioned a little snippet of his past. "How so?" She was curious. He talked about himself very rarely, and all she could recall him divulging so far was the fact that he'd been given up for adoption when he was an infant, and that he hadn't been the nicest person before. She couldn't recall him going into detail, or mentioning anything else.

...oooh, wait. Did this have to do with the whole 'breaking legs' thing? She could recall him mentioning stuff like that when the insect had been cooped up in the room. "You mean when you were running around terrorizing criminals or whatever?"

"I was done with high school, had a very boring job and a very clingy boyfriend, who was not at all happy when I eventually broke the news that I was leaving for New York for four years."

"Ah... That guy, uh... Derrick, the clingy boyfriend? Looks like he got over it... One heck of a way to do it, dating one of your exes... Who is also your friend." Jees, her love life was complicated, wasn't it?

He nodded at the mansion being full good people comment. He knew all too well the way that place seemed to attract people that meant well... Except for that Martin guy... He was somethin else.


"I uh... Well, figure I wasn't exactly a productive member of society, is all. I stole. I stole a lot. I fought. Guess it helped me doin what I do now, but... sometimes it ended badly... mostly for me and my friends." His eyes glazed over for a moment, but he pulled himself out when she mentioned giving criminals a hard time.

"Heh, no. That was after I got to the mansion..." He looked at her for a moment, wondering if he should tell her what was on his mind...

"Ah... That guy, uh... Derrick, the clingy boyfriend? Looks like he got over it... One heck of a way to do it, dating one of your exes... Who is also your friend."

She chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah... well, can't say i'm surprised. But that's whatever, really. No skin off my nose whatever they decide to do."

"I uh... Well, figure I wasn't exactly a productive member of society, is all. I stole. I stole a lot. I fought. Guess it helped me doin what I do now, but... sometimes it ended badly... mostly for me and my friends."

She frowned and remained silent, simply watching him. She didn't mind his confession -- which is what most people assumed it to be, but she wasn't exactly sure how to comment on the 'friends' thing. Especially when he got that look in his eye again.... the last time she'd seen that he'd been talking about a woman.

"Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest.” She paused momentarily, then continued. "I think people focus too much on the past. The 'I was', 'you did', ect." She picked at her fuzzy coat. "At some point it needs to be filed away so there is room to grow. Like, I presume, what you did."

"Hey... can I see your phone for a sec?"

"Judge nothing, you will be happy. Forgive everything, you will be happier. Love everything, you will be happiest.”

He watched her carefully as she spoke those words. He didn't know who said them first, but they sounded like some sort of sagely wisdom from the past... He smiled a bit, looking into the fire for a moment. Absent mindedly he threw a few stalks into the fire, and laid some more out to dry out.

"That's easy to say, but every wound leaves scars... I'm covered in them. Lessons learned. I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't look back once in a while. That's one of the good things about making a lot of mistakes, I guess... If you live through it, you get to learn from it... I feel like I've lived enough for ten lives, honestly... Done more than I ever thought a human could do. Seen... Amazing, and terrible things. Here I am, though. Better for it all."

He grabbed his phone from the ground next to them, wiping some earth from it, and handing it to her.

"Why, what's up?"

She took the phone from him, tapped away for a bit, then stared at it awkwardly as if waiting for something. Then, after a moment she handed it back. There was a new App on it.

"You mentioned a while ago that you needed to get back into reading and stuff, since I steal away a lot of your free time." She pointed at the phone. "There are a lot of app's like that one, but that is my favorite. It's like having a library in your phone. You can look up pretty much anything that pops into your head."

She smiled slightly, and tucked her hands in her pockets. Still no call yet... but it had only been a bit since she'd hung up on him.

"And I didn't mean file away and forget. I tend to think of people like computers... or at least myself. I have a lot of space in there that gets taken up by things I don't use anymore, or a billion pictures of cats. If I file them all away on a separate drive, I have more space for new things. I'm not necessarily getting rid of those files... just organizing and filing them."

She scratched at her chin awkwardly. "I was really mean as a kid, because I moved so much. I didn't talk to people, and spent all by free time reading. Grew up really antisocial, and because of it there was always a stigma that followed me wherever I went. It didn't help that i'm not exactly the model 'girl', nor that my particular interests fall waaay outside the scope of normal."

"I could have pretty easily become one of those people plagued by depression, who struggle with self worth or worry about how people view them... but I didn't. At some point really early on I decided not to care, and used all of my lesser appreciated qualities to try and make myself a better person."

She rolled her eyes off to the side, "... not that it really worked."

Saph eyed his phone as she handed it back to him, wearing a look of interested approval on his face. He would have to check it out when he had time... Maybe a night shift?

"Thanks, Shelby..." He poked at it a little bit, finding his way around. They were talking still, though, so before long, he set his phone back down.

He fell into silence once more as he listened to her explain more what she was getting at.

"... not that it really worked."

"None of that... Yer in the company of someone who thinks yer pretty damn great... Don't get down on yourself around me. I kinda feel like... I dunno. Having you around has pulled me out of a funk I've been in for... Well over a year, I guess... So... Thank you." Was it completely terrible that he sorta had Roach to thank or meeting her? He squashed that thought pretty quickly. She wouldn't appreciate the sentiment, and he didn't really, either.

She full on blushed, right then. And on such pale skin it was obvious. She was good at taking criticism, both constructive and non... and most other things didn't normally phase her. compliments on the other hand were something she'd never really gotten used to receiving.

Sure, she got a few here and there for her work. Those were easy to shrug off in most cases unless the person was really insistent about it.

Saph always seemed to be full of unexpected compliments, though. Not the regular 'you're so pretty' or 'you've got so much talent. He regularly commented about the positive effect she apparently had on him... and she wasn't sure what to do or say about it.

So she just turned red and fidgeted awkwardly. "Not necessarily being being down on myself there. Just honest. I know there are still quite a few areas where I could improve myself."

Her phone chose that moment to go off, startling her thoroughly. She fumbled it out, and when she noticed that it was the same number from before she answered.

"Jesus! Did you guys start a fire in there!?"

"Yep. Many more to come the longer this goes on."

"@#$%! Okay, so let's all just calm down for a second here.. okay? How about I drop the price to one hundred bucks, and then we call it a day, huh?"

"What was that? Take out another 50ft section and start a few more fires? Sure thing!" She hung up again. He called back immediately, but she didn't answer the second time.

"Sure... We all wanna get better at life. I been working on that for years. Still feel like I'm just past the tutorial, there."

Her phone rang, and Saph snorted, fueling the fire more. "Tell him to pay us money, and then we'll leave... Oh! Free pumpkins!" He lounged back, as comfy as he could get on a bed of corn stalks. "Corn stalker... What a joke."

He took a bite of his corn, chuckling as he went. "S'gud... Prolly shoulda grabbed some of this earlier." He tossed an empty cob into the fire, and wiped his hands on his pants, placing them behind his head afterward.

"Honestly, I'm likin this... Talking about stuff, Anything else you wanna talk about?"