Refurbishing Old Waterfront Warehouses

Minerva snorted and moved to lean against the wall opposite of the warehouse she'd been working on. "Isn't my job to hate the world?" she said, rolling her lip ring around again. She smiled a little, playfully, "You can't just expose me like this and not expect any repercussions, Sterling."

"It's easy to see all the awful, isn't it? And it's not like it's ever going to go away, you're right about that. It's easy to get stuck on it too--it's what the media does, anyways. No one remembers good news quite like they do the bad news." She tilted her head and eyed the almost-stranger a little. There was that talk again--he spoke as if he were much older than he looked. This time, she got the impression that he'd lived on the earth longer than she could've guessed--and then she got her answer. Sort of.

"You're an angel?" she said, her brows quirking up in curiosity and surprise. She looked him up and down, almost expecting to see something that would make her think 'duh, of course he is'. So far...just the looks. "Do angels have egos? I feel like I'm feeding it somehow," she laughed, making a scrunched-up face back at him for his teasing look. "A lot of handsome people seem to think they can get away with a lot of stuff just because they're good-looking. But I guess now I have to ask...are you one of those asshole angels?"

"Ohhh, I see! Those sure do sound like some delinquents," she said with a small grin. "Devoted followers should know that angels are not to be worshipped, but the Creator himself!" Sometimes Minerva wondered if she sounded like a lunatic when she recounted the things she'd been taught about her religion. It was bad back in her hometown, where the atheists and other non-believers seemed to be in majority, but it was worse on an island filled with demons and hundreds of other religions to boot. She hadn't heard a positive word about Christianity from anyone other than an angel themselves.

"Definitely not a crusader, I see, I see," she said as she jokingly mimed taking down notes. At Sterling's admission, her expression changed to small but genuine pleasant surprise. "You were a guardian angel, really? I don't know whether to say I'm surprised or what. What was it like? Did you have to do like a lot of crime-fighting, or did you just go for the silent protector who wards away misfortune? Guardian angels were always kind of a mystery to me."

At his question, she tilted her head this way and that and smirked. "I look like one of those types, don't I? Are we sure you're not the mean antisocial girl here?" She laughed and straightened up again, her blue-grey eyes twinkling mischievously. "I dunno; why don't you find out? But I'll give you a hint--appearances don't matter to me so much as personalities do."

"I feel like if I said I disagreed about multiple creators, I'd be immediately accosted by several of the gods living on this island, and it wouldn't be pretty. Maintaining a Christian faith gets me enough dirty looks as is," she snorted and shook her head. It was one of the first times in a long time that she'd mentioned to someone that she actually believed in God, because it was true--having mentioned God in front of demons and half-demons and other gods before, she swore she'd nearly been lynched. Someone had even tried to sit her down to explain to her why she was wrong, which she wasn't going to have any of.

"Some people here are just a bunch of hypocrites... 'Don't force your faith on me, wah wah! What, you believe in GOD? That's horrible and you are too!'" She scoffed with a small wrinkle of her nose. She wasn't even entirely sure that Sterling took her seriously, and he was an angel himself!

"Huh...So guardian angels are kind of like a gut feeling, then? I get a lot of those. I've always wondered if I had a guardian angel, and if so...what would they look like? I know they don't normally look like you. Angels are usually pretty...horrific without a glamour. No offense." Just thinking about the amount of eyes they had made her want to shudder. At least Sterling only had two, even if it might've been some sort of illusion.

Minerva laughed as well. "Maybe it was the way you sauntered up and so boldly asked if I made this piece of art," she said with a snicker and a gesture to the blooming moss tree. "Don't you know all the guys these days approach females strictly through text messaging? Then again, it actually makes them more bold: I'd be afraid of what you had in store for me if I gave you that medium."

She pulled out her phone and lightly tossed it in the air. When she caught it, she wiggled it at Sterling in an obvious display. "What do you say?"

"No, you didn't actually boldly saunter up; I was joking about that. I wasn't joking about guys these days though--most dudes are too socially awkward nowadays to actually confront the opposite sex, even if it's just to say hi. The internet's kind of like an invisible wall for people to hide behind that way; makes them feel more confident since they don't have to look anyone in the eye."

She glanced behind her as she spoke, just for a split second, as if there was actually going to be something there that Sterling was looking at. Was she supposed to be creeped out at the thought of someone watching her every move, including the embarrassing ones like trying to offer a cute guy her number?

Minerva couldn't help but roll her eyes at Sterling's total cluelessness when she turned back. That was probably on her--she guessed she couldn't expect a guardian angel to be able to pick up on her vague suggestions without being a mind-reader. "Still a bit out of touch these days, aren't you? I'll rephrase and be a little more straightforward, then. I want your number so we can text each other after we leave. I won't be offended if you say no."