Some time after their last meeting, the Mansion resident „Saphirus“ sometimes aptly named „Masochist“ of the wonderful genus homo sapiens would find a small note attached to his door. Small. White. Tape holding it in place. On it only a few words. Punishment at 12°° in the garden. MS. The last letters were written with a little more force, making them stand out blacker against the white paper, nondescript, black ink, such normal things. A wound of shadow in the innocence. Just such small things. So little to deduct from but the bare fact. Saphirus was to attend the gardener at noon in the garden. Such little things. So ordinary.

Only it wasn't as it seemed. The young seeming gardener had taken great care to place his traps. To make this punishment actually worth his time. Well not his time – he had enough of that – but his attention. Yes he had paid careful attention to placing a rake in the taller grass, where it could not be seen. To instruct a small girl of the lower grades to bring his other message just when he desired it. She had proven herself punctual on several other occasions, so that should not be a problem (though he'd have rather handled things like that himself, but the man that would arrive soon would find him quite attentive all the time he was to spend with him. All that was to transpire was supposed to look totally accidental.

Just small things happening. Needle pricks in the skin a dozens of different ways. Like the rosebush he had fallen into. They would be his punishment. Nothing out of the ordinary. Seemingly. Arrive in the garden at noon. When the sun is highest and the air is hottest.

The gardener simply stood there. His brown-and-green clothes slightly worn as usual, relaxed the stance. A bucket, a metal one at his side, he was waiting in front of the very rosebush that Saphirus had almost completely ruined with his violent thrashing. Gloves over his hands. Blue eyes watching the back exit of the large building, scanning for the one person he wanted to come today. The bruise had taken a healer to go away completely. He hoped at least this would sink in today. Or e would repeat it another time. So long 'till he had nothing more to teach. Welcome to the world... where mountains dance. Fall down with every blink. Welcome to the garden of the mansion. Your personal horror. Your very personal horror. Welcome indeed. Mr. Saphirus. He was smiling ever so slightly. He was just lacking the happiness to go along with that. A cold smile decorated him. Unlike the flowers its fragrance was slightly bitter.

Was miserability a word?

It didn't matter; Saph had the distinct feeling that by the end of this day he would max out the scale of it. He stared at the note on his door for what felt like an eternity as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. It was ten AM, and he had some time, but something about how the scrawny man's initials were practically carved into the little make-shift post-it inspired dread.

Sure, he could take the guy... He was sloppy last time, but the guy was staff here, and had been staff since before his try-out. Right now, Saph wasn't on as much thin ice as he had been when he made the promise to accept any punishment that martin chose, but that didn't mean the relentless German couldn't break it.

He showered, shaved and got dressed for the heat; the news was talking about how the day was going to be a "real scorcher." Saph let out a long sigh as he finished getting ready. He gave the mirror a good stare, and mumbled lowly. "Russel, you idiot... What have you gotten yourself into?"

He shook off the cascade of nostalgic memories quickly; he had to go. The older mutant made his way out of the mansion, and then toward the garden, holding a hand up to block his eyes from the searing son all of the way... Jesus, was there some particular reason that they were gardening at the hottest possible part of the day? Maybe it was some stupid rule in the craft or something.

It was still stupid...

He put on a fake smile as Martin came into view, trying to pretend he was at least a little eager to get what ever ha had to do finished so he could put this whole ordeal behind him. "S'up doc?" He said in a very horrible bugs bunny mimic. He had the feeling there were other people who could do it much better. He came to a stop in front of the grinning German, eying him cautiously.

"What's on the plate for today, eh?"

And there he was, the victim, would be victim from before. And there he stood so close. A few meters. Maybe two, maybe three away. Just a few steps. Smiling that fake smile. Just like his. They seemed to understand each other on a certain level. Nothing was honest in this garden today. Everything was a lie. He had seen to that. There were some things that were a lie and a truth. There were some things that were a lie in a lie.

And there were the flowers. They were true. Quite true. There was a rosebush that was complete. No damage done except that the bed that it was in was quite unkempt. Weeds were growing. (He had let them) Some of them were decidedly unpleasant things. (He had seen to that- Just throwing selected bits of the detritus made by his other weeding sessions in the bed had been enough. Some things grew, after all, just like weeds.) Poisonous things. Things that made you itch. Things that stained your skin and clothes. And things that made you want to crawl into a little hole and stay there for a long time if you were stupid enough to ingest them.

He had made the effort to conjure up this little piece of gardening just for this very special day. And still that smile of his was slightly bitter.

Saphirus stood at his mercy a part of him thought. That, too, as he knew very well, was a lie.

“I hear you made it on the team.” No need to mention which one. And no need to mention that news of the X-men traveled freely here in the gardens where children of all ages shouted. And on the staff meetings where such things might just be mentioned. Yes. I hear. Remember that. I hear. He was still smiling. Nothing changed with his words. The bush was still in flower. A slight breeze picked up and blew its fragrance toward them. For those who had a nose for it it was delightful. Sweet with jut that hint of danger. It might also have been his voice. Minus the sweet part. Cold with just a hint of danger. “Congratulations.”

He lied. Somewhat.

“You see there is some work to be done here. Nothing heroic, but the weeds need to go out of the patch and into this bucket.” He pointed to said object. There would be no gloves for Mr. Saphirus. There would be no tools. “And please make sure you get rid of the roots. These things grow back of you don't get them out.” And the task was set. Coldly. Without irony. Martin turned around, taking some other things that lay around. It seemed he was going to clip the grass on the edges of the flower patches. Nothing too serious. But those eyes were quite often looking back to that Mutant by the rosebush. A climbing rose. With thorns. And lots of weeds, too. Part one. Have fun. Ill not let you go.

The man asked about the team, with little interest, Saph was sure, and he responded with the response that would be the most annoying. When someone asked a question like that, they generally wanted a 'yeah', or something along that line. Simple, short. He would do just the opposite. "Ohhh, yeah... It was great. You see, I like to think of everything as a challenge waiting to be met, and meet I did. Have you ever played Nintendo? Who am I kidding, everyone has. Well, Shin set up a sort of Nintendo based test in the danger room. It was just about as nostalgic as it gets, you know? Had to play the part of Mario for a good time. But when the dust settled, I made the cut. I guess that means you'll be seeing me around a lot more, huh?" He winked a little, and then listened as the man stated his chore.

The objectives were stated plainly and with innocent simplicity. He was to weed the rose garden. It was a simple sentence for what would normally be a simple task, but a quick glance showed him that the weeds had maybe been allowed to take hold just a little bit... Saph looked back to the gardener with an innocent smile. "That's a lot of weeds, huh? It's almost like someone wasn't tending to them, isn't it?" He looked right into the man's eyes for a moment, and then broke contact, continuing. "What do I know, though? It's probably just a type of weed that grows fast, huh?"

Then and there, he made a decision... This guy was gonna try to cross him at every turn, and at every turn, he would beat him. Not openly, either. No words of challenge would be spoken, no; he would simply navigate this obstacle course of spite in order to get to the goal, and show this guy that he wasn't going to be taken down by some unusually reactive gardener. He watched as the gardener when about his own work, and turned to walk over to the rose bush, missing the presence of a rake in the grass. He stepped on the front of it, and the handle rushed up to meet his face. His body moved without his command, trying to react, but not doing well, because the object was under his foot as well. He spun a little, lost his footing, and then fell flat on his back. The rake then fell once more, landing smack dab in the family jewels. "OOF!" He writhed for a bit, and then pushed the rake off, sitting up slowly... His eyes slowly drifted over to Martin, twitching a few times. Alright... The classic well placed garden tool trick, huh?

Gardener one, Saph zero, but the game was just beginning.

He stood quickly, and then walked the rest of the way to the rose bush, eying the weeds in the plot around it... He then looked for something to get them out with... Nothing; no gloves, tools or anything else that might help. It figured, but he came prepared.

He pulled out his crowbar slowly, smiling widely, and then got to work prying out the weeds with it. It did a fairly good job at it as well; he caught them in the fork, and lifted straight up, depositing the plants into the provided bucket. A few weeds later, he wiped the sweat from his brow, and turned to look over to Martin, who he caught looking back at him. He smiled widely, and waved a little... The score was now even, it seemed.

There was no hint of satisfaction in his face as Saphirus hit himself with the gardening implement. It was, after all, just the beginning of a very long day. The only detectable motion, and it was not one of delight, was the sight of the crowbar that was now used as a gardening tool, too. Again these rash decisions. He was tempted, thoroughly tempted to sigh. That boys impertinence... Something tugged at his arm, just as he was about to turn away. Tugged from below. A small smile crossed his face. Just what he needed, when he needed it.

It had taken not much, just a few sweets here and there to reinforce a child's good habit of visiting the gardener during a certain period of the day. He always came by now and asked whether he needed some help with this or that. The fact that he was the schools next big gossip seemed to have eluded the gardeners wandering attention totally. He seemed to just be handing out menial tasks to the child. Small errands that always led to some form of benefit on his side. He did in no way reinforce the bad habits. He just opened ways for them to reinforce themselves. All for that one sake. And maybe a few others. Gossip was a highly useful tool. One that could never be controlled tightly enough. Especially in a school of young children.

“Why,” Did the child ask with that innocent simplicity that sounded always false from the mouth he was wearing now. “is there an X-men digging in the garden with a crowbar?” The little boy was full of curiosity. He did not bother to lower his high voice. Or, as one could probably infer from his age and demeanor, to keep this a secret from his friends here at the school. He was in fact, intensely curious, eying at Saphirus without any restraint. Martins voice was nowhere near lowered either, carried across the lawn and to the bushes. “You know what happens if you try to cheat at school? If you make the wrong choices as the teachers call it?” Understanding blossomed on the child's face. And that little bit of unrestricted malice that children were permitted he positively threw his bright children's smile at the penitent. “So he was bad?” “Very.” The gardener prompted to answer the child's inquiry to seemingly even greater delight on his part. Such an amount of juicy gossip... maybe?

Or was it something else?

He positioned himself in a way in which he was both able to eem like he was entertaining the child some more, while just occasionally his look flickered over to Saphirus. Does it bite yet?

Saph's paused, and his head lifted up a little as he heard Martin speaking. He turned to see a kid talking to him. The words the man said made his eyebrow twitch a little... Alright... What was this? Some kinda attempt to turn the people of the mansion against him one by one?

Well, It wasn't going to happen. Saph smiled kindly as he wiped his brow, and set down his tool next to the nearly full bucket of weeds. He then wandered on over, nodding to Martin as he arrived. "I think I need another bucket. There's lotsa weeds." He then turned to the kid.

"I couldn't help overhearing what our friend Martin was saying. He's right you know. I was bad. Even though I am an X-man, I was having trouble with my powers, and I let them get the best of me." He crouched town to meet the kid eye level, and smiled disarmingly. "I bet you've had problems with your powers at some point, too, huh? If not, you most likely will. The important thing to remember is that everyone is here to support you. And that you will make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, even an X-man like me." He smiled kindly, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small Yo-yo. He had been meaning to use it to smack Martin while he wasn't looking; you could hide something like that really easily after hitting someone. Now, though, he decided that was a little petty. He deposited the Yo-yo into the kid's hand, and leaned in to whisper to him. "Take this and go have fun. I would stay away from the garden, though. A very good friend of mine got poison Ivy from back here recently. You can't be too careful." He leaned back, and patted the kid on the shoulder, winking, and then letting him run off to enjoy his new toy.

Saph grinned widely, and stood, looking up to his foe, not even knowing that the word about the poison ivy was going to be spread about by a gossip in training. He'd just done his best to instill upon the kid a good moral, and then send him off so he couldn't do any more damage.

Even so, he was pretty sure this round went to him. "Another bucket, Ol buddy, ol pal?"

Padding quietly down the hallway, with a little note in one hand, and a banana in the other, Andrea re-read the rather mysterious note once more, and took another monstrous bite of her food. Effectively ending it's brief existence in two massive chomps.

While highly suspicious, she had an inkling as to who it may have come from, which is why she had accepted it from the small girl child in the first place. She passed by a few windows, peering out into the front yard of the mansion, before she turned a corner and headed back towards where she was told to go. She tossed her food waste into a trash can as she passed, taking steps to make sure it didn't hit the rim and flop out onto the floor... and then paused at a window near her. Outside, farther down the wall she could see martin...or at least his back, standing next to a child. Saph was not far off, elbow deep in weeds and dirt.

She smiled lightly, tucking a few wriggling strands of hair behind her ears, and leaned up against the window sill for a moment. She hadn't realized Saph would be there as well... A quick glance down at her clothing told her she would probably need to go change... into something less baggy, and maybe a little more dirt proof. Before she moved though, she watched Saph stand and walk over to join Martin and the child. He knelt down next to the boy, spoke a few words she was to far away to hear, and withdrew a yo-yo from his pocket.

Andrea's smile grew a little more at the sight. Saph had given the kid a toy. A gift. The older man patted the kid on the shoulder, and the kid scampered off. With a giggle, Andrea pushed away from the wall and turned back towards her room. She would change, gather a sturdier pair of gloves, and then head out to meet the two men. The day was going to be so much fun!

Slimy. An adjective he had not considered affording any of his acquaintances before in his lasting memory. Well... That being not much of an accomplishment: He did not want to grace any of his acquaintances with it. Saphirus passed criteria for the second amiably, almost pleasantly – if there had not a shovel been involved in their meeting – but sadly also the first was there. Undeniably. He probably had gotten an A in school for it, too. Slimy. The kind that made him want to go bathe. And not come out until a lot of time had passed.

The gardener was a no-nonsense person one could say. One could also say he was not amenable to all forms of social lubrication. Calling him coarse would probably hit a nail somewhere. Calling his voice calm hit it right on the head. “I do not recall us being on a first name basis.” Exclamation point. Silence. Birds had stopped singing, fleeing to the shadows from the heat that was already making every exercise a nuisance. Soon the gardens would be empty. Kids did not like playing while being scorched. Usually. He added in continually calm, but slightly more icy notes. “Did your parents not teach you that it was the elders right to offer?” Proposal rejected. That was the price one had to pay for bold advances like that. For others, there were other punishments. (He had to remember to let the children eat cake or something to spread around juicy tales. If this boy wouldn’t seed them, he would.) The least problematic with Saphirus seemed to be the fact that he wanted to work. In the midday heat. No water. No bread. Just heat. And sweat. And work. He walked over to the bucket. The full bucket. He was tempted to just let it drop from his fingers. Ops... Blatantly obvious. And not at all elegant. Not his kind of work. “There is a compost a few meters to your right. And since you are so well-informed about the dangers of this garden, Id be delighted have you see to that Ivy on another day.” Just a small idea.

The compost was, of course, a quite unpleasant thing to be near at this stage of the year. It smelled. Dreadfully. Of rotten things. Habits. Manners. He didn’t mind. Would Saph? Slime seemed to be his business after all.

Saph's mind displayed a neatly organized buffet of responses to Martin's utterance of. "I do not recall us being on first name basis.". He could be terse; a quick. 'F*#% off, snowflake.'... nah. Too harsh. Mocking? He could always go the childish rout and say the same phrase back to him in a higher pitched voice. Nah, that was too juvenile. He said his second line, and Saph immediately knew what to say.

"Aww, c'mon. Lighten up Marty. We're all friends here, right?" He gave a wink, and then added in for good measure, "Besides, I never had any parents." He was going to let Martin slip on the whole acting like he was older thing... It was probably just the way he comforted himself. He seemed like the kinda guy that had to be right; had to be in control of the situation. Acting like you were a grandpa or something must just have been part of the package.

The gardener spoke on the subject of the ivy, and blinked. "Huh... that's funny... I thought we paid someone to get rid of stuff like that. Wonder who... oh well... Off to the heap!"

The X-man trainee took the bucket from him after he retrieved it ,and walked off to go put it in the compost. He noticed it was steaming a little because of the hot weather, so that should have been a hint of how bad it would smell. Oblivious, he leaned forward to pitch the bucket, and got a nose full.

"Whheeeew! Hah hah! This stuff smells like crap! What, is this were you keep the roadkill or something?" Being a man's man, horrid stench only gave him something to laugh about. He leaned in and took another brief sniff, coughing a little, and then shaking his head. "Oh man, you gotta smell this." He looked at the ever stoic Martin, blinked. Nah, he didnt seem the type to appreciate the bad smell. Well, back to work, then. Saph reached up and wiped his brow with his sleeve. Jees, it was only getting hotter!

He stretched his arm as he walked back to the rose garden, bucket in hand. He was prepared for a long

Nearly slamming the door behind herself, Andrea tugged her shirt into place and paused to inspect herself once more before continuing on. Loose fitting tank top. Check. Baggy camo print capri's. Check. Roman inspired sandals. Check. and gloved- sturdy latex gloves... Check.

She nodded to herself, satisfied, and jo gged back out to where she has stopped before. When she reached the window, Martin was still there. She couldn't see Saph... a frown touched her lips. Maybe he was already done? She stayed by the glass pane for only a moment, then continued on her way. When she reached the outside and padded quietly towards where Martin was standing, she finally spotted Saph again. Her smile returned ten fold, cheesy and childish, and she made herself clam down a few pegs.

"Hello.." She greeted, stopping more than a little to the side and behind the gardener. The child they had been talking to was no where to be seen.. but she supposed he didn't really matter. He had probably just been curious as to what was going on. "It is a fine day for gardening, is it not?"

Saph was apparently on his way back, she noticed, bucket in hand. Dirt on his knees and hands. She blushed a little, feeling the heat in her cheeks, and tried to hide it by shielding her already protected eyes from the sun. "It is quite hot though..." Turning her attention to the rose garden, she tried to spot and count as many little imperfections as she could.. but ended up getting distracted by the little flowers that grew all around.

At Saphs reply and eyebrow was raised. If there was such a thing as winter in summer: Here it came. “The lack of proper parents might explain your total lack of manners.” Sharp the answer. In his face like a twig bent back too far. Cut. The eyebrow went back to its proper place. “It is not an excuse though. You will find a work by an author named Knigge in the schools library. I recommend him.” That dryness had not vanished yet, was still there sucking, like the hear, every but of comfort from this place. Better then any vacuum cleaner. Better then anything else. Better then human. The lack of parents also would explain his love of rotten smells. Of course nobody had taught him to be sanitary and how to use deodorant. It was menial, was it not? It was something that could be forgotten. If one did not want to blend in with society.

He watched him move back into working position, when, out of the corner of his eye he saw something approaching over the lawn. He turned around to face the green woman greeting him, some kind of smile on his lips. Halfway between fake an earnest. Halfway truth. I am glad you are here it said. That part was honest. I did want you to come help me it said. That part was honest as well. Only there never ad been anything about gardening in his mind when he had asked her to come into the garden today. Different plans. Different concerns.

Like doing the job of two people that should have been there for baby Saph after he had beaten his way out of his mother.

“Thank you so much for coming Andrea” His voice said warmly. Much too warmly. Soundly as well. Audibly. He stepped forward, moved, and, in one swift movement he was trying to wrap his (very much clothed, thank you I don’t want to hurt this someone seriously) arm around her in a very unbecoming fashion for a passing acquaintance. Very unbecoming.

“You know I could show you how to prune. Over here.” He positively cooed. For him that was him sounding much less terse than normal. Friendly even, pleasant. Cooed. Audibly.

Saph paused in his rout back to the garden when Martin spoke. His smile dropped for a moment; he turned to face the younger looking man once again. This guy spoke of manners... Sure, he was one of those people that fancied themselves intelligent; Saph didn't care about that stuff. It was pointless to hold yourself above others like that. "I thought it was good manners not to talk down to others." He went back to his business A movement off to the side caused him to look, and his smile came once more...

It was break time. Why? Andrea was here. He'd been thinking of her all week; and... well, it had been a good week. Saph kept his trusty bucket in hand, and turned to make his way back to Martin, a big smile on his face as he approached. She was smiling too. He liked her smile, and her blush, which he could definitely see when she laid eyes on him. Awesome. The scrawny man greeted Andrea warmly, and then moved in to further the greeting in a very personal way. Saph blinked. Instead of reacting how Martin probably expected him to, Saph instead chuckled a little bit under his breathe. Yeah; now he saw his game... Come to think of it... Maybe all of this was part of this guy's game. The heat, Andrea, the kid... the kid. Saph's eyes narrowed for half a second as he took the other half to catch up. Damn, he really was slow, wasn't he? He got it, now. This wasn't just gardening; this was an attempt to ruin him. How... Well, for lack of a better word, Slimy!
"Mornin beautiful! You're here to help?"
He didn't mind, though. He wasn't worried about this smug little creep having any chance with Andrea; she was too nice for him; too pure. She needed someone who would do anything they needed to to protect her. At least, that's what he believed.

He would get his hug in after Martin, but not before he nodded at her comment about it being really hot. "I know, huh?" He then initiated his own plan. Y'see, Martin had his assets, Saph had to admit. He was cunning, manipulative, and intelligent. Saph was cunning, and intelligent in his less book smart kind of way, but he wasn't particularly fond of treating people like puzzles. So, what did he have to work with? ripped arms and a freakin 8-pack that could fry eggs without the assistance of the summer heat. In short, Saph took off his shirt, and showed off his sweat shined muscles, using the excuse that it was hot. He wasn't above that. Not. At. All.

Saph kept his smile up, and spoke to cut off Martin. "She already knows how to do that stuff. She works at a flower shop. y'wanna give me a hand?"

He reached out a hand to Andrea, and smiled that way he always felt like smiling when she was around.

“Thank you so much for coming Andrea”

She smiled back, if a little flustered. The arm around her only helped to jumbled her thoughts even more, so much so that she couldn't really think of anything to say beyond, "You are welcome.." Personal contact had never been her strong point. She shifted nervously, and scratched at her flushed, brown cheek. It was awfully hot... and only getting hotter. Before she could accept his proposal of being taught how to prune, which was something she would have rather liked to do, or wonder at why Martin sounded so... gushy... Saph sauntered up and cut in the conversation before her.

"Mornin beautiful! You're here to help?"

Her blush tripped, dipping down well past her cheeks and down the back of her neck. She fidgeted more, and pressed her palm to her cheek, unknowingly adopting one of the cliche female poses from her favorite novel genre. "Yes... I am here to help..." She cleared her throat, attempting to wrangle her emotions back into line. More words came to mind, fixing themselves into sentances and questions. Polite chatter that would help to smooth the situation and get her back into working shape. She couldn't prune things while fidgety and distracted, after all. Unfortunately, the poor unknowing Greek was caught in a game.... and when Saph removed his shirt she felt what was left of the blood in her body rush to her face. She was suddenly very... very dizzy...

~~
Inside the mansion, three giggling teenagers happened past a window at exactly that same moment. Three pairs of mascara and shadow laden eyes went wide, and three lip stick clad mouths dropped open in shock. "Oh... my... gawd. That guy is like... soooo hawt!" Three head nodded in unison, and each girl whipped out rather expensive looking cell phones. "Daaaaym, Lookit those abs!" Each girl grinned at the other, faces eerily similar in appearance. They were triplets, after all. "Isn't he like staff around here or something? I think I've seen him before..." One girl pursed her lips, tapping her phone against her chin. "I dunno... but who cares! He's hot, and that's all that matters! O.M.G, I can't wait to show Sophie!... she's like, totally going to sooo jealous that she missed this." The girls giggled and highfived each other. "We, like, need to spread this around and stuff... Oh! Like, let's make something from it!" They nodded again, snapped a few more pictures and skipped off toward their shared room with visions of posters, screen savers, calenders and fan sites dancing around in their heads... "Like... i'm going to edit in a fireman's hat and stuff!" More giggles. "And a police hat! And cowboy gear! Gawd, this is going to be sooo much fun!" They vanished around a corner, musing about who he was and if he was single or not...

~~
"She already knows how to do that stuff. She works at a flower shop. y'wanna give me a hand?"

She didn't even hear the question. A scene from one of her books was standing right in front of her, glistening abs and all. Her hands flew to her mouth, she mumbled a quiet "oh my..." and Andrea dropped like a fly. Her knees buckled, and with a whoosh she dropped ungracefully into the dirt. Face, meet gravel. Gravel, meet face. They shook hands, and she groaned in a muffled manner. Though she had only blacked out for a second, she didn't feel like getting up... no, getting up would mean facing a shirtless man, and certain embarrassment from feinting because of aforementioned shirtless man. As painful as it was, she was quite happy to remain lying face first in the dirt, with her rump in the air and her knees tucked neatly into her chest. Yep... she preferred this much more.

Yes, welcome he was. This was very good. The fact that he was welcome did not even illicit much guilt in the back of his mind. Using her this way, manipulation, it was a part of the lesson he wanted to teach. Going down deeper in the rabbit hole of human consciousness. Everyone can be manipulated. On some level everyone wants to be. Who, after all, can resist the notion of having decisions taken out of his hands? Andrea was turning her usual shade of brown again as well. This was good. Other things were not. Like kiddos face. He had expected rage. Maybe a bit more. Flying fists as well. But not quite this smile. Not this quickly. This meant his game was over... or so he would probably think. In truth, learning one was being manipulated was only the beginning. It always was. In this case it was to taking off a shirt. And a follwoing thump.
There are things that go bump that way. A car rolling over a damaged street, a door being closed but hindered, a head hitting a wooden something... and well, as things go, heads hitting gravel also made for a nice thumping sound. This, though, was not quite what Martin had intended. Neither had been the fact that Saph had taken off his shirt. Had the kid no decency hat all – he wanted to sigh mentally, physically, very, very badly – of course the kid had no manners. The kid had been raised in a barn. He was so focused on Andrea that the fact something was giggling from the upper floors absolutely went past his head. And ears. Past notice. It was a nice addition though. In hindsight (seeing the results of Photoshop gone bad on Saph) he would say that he should have arranged for something like this to occur. Without the thumping noises of Andreas face on the ground. In the gravel. It was a bit dusty really from how she had fallen and the particles were settling on his slightly moist skin to form a grimy, slightly oily looking surface.
He was not quite agog, but a bit surprised really. So much that the impeccable gardener blinked not once, but twice before stating in a tone that left very, very little room for discussion: „You will find a bottle of water around the corner of the building.“ This water, which he now made a pointed gesture for, had actually been meant as part of a lesson in humility, but it was not needed somewhere else. Humility had to wait until green girls were properly restored to consciousness. „You will also put your rag back on.“ All this. Calmly. Evenly. Was there anything that would fluster the gardener? He was already kneeling down near the head of the fallen body of Andreas', feeling for her head with one gloved hand. Well having on gloves somewhat hinders the finding of pulses. And other things. The hand went for the chin and turned Andreas head upwards, facing the sky. Just taking her body along with it gently was the other. Then they were free again. There was grime on her face. And gravel. It was calmly wiped away. This did not hinder Martin from giving Andrea a sound slap directly afterwards. Not with all his strength of course. And there was no malice in the motion. It was just... a slap to the face. This, alas, also made bump. „Andrea!“ To her his voice was very commanding. Not even at all. It was loud and direct and while not wholesomely unpleasant held a very, very keen edge. Also: He had slapped her. And then looked up to see whether Saph had actually gone as told, or whether he as gone to get a shovel.

Saph's eyes widened as the girl he was very much in like with stared at him for a moment, and then flopped down right onto her face. holy sh#$! Saph would have run right to her if he didn't have to hobble instead. He arrived in time for Martin to tell him where the water was... Around the corner... Not even close to where you would want to put water in a situation like this.The forcast says it'll be insanely hot today, and he hides the water? Jesus, this guy was something else! Saph ignored the comment about his shirt- it was hot as some place close to hell- he wasn't about to pass out as well, neither was he going to bow to the whim of his would-be torturer. He did, however, hobble at full speed around the corner to find the water bottle.

The fresh X-man wiped sweat from his brow as he reached down to take the bottle, and hobble back. There wasn't a whole lot there- and he would give it all to Andrea... That meant he was gonna have to go without, and he was fine with that... He got back to the fallen green figure and the gardener, holding out the bottle to him in time to see him slap her. His not water holding fist clenched a little... He could have used some of the water to wake her up instead of hitting her... Sure, it wasn't going to hurt her, but he didn't like seeing her get hit even in the slightest way... "Don't do that again." He surprized himself, even, with the tone of his own voice. It sounded very similar to how Martin had been speaking to him.