The next morning Abe and Hellboy sat together, eating breakfast and watching T.V. Abe was enjoying a hardboiled rotten egg, while Hellboy messily devoured a heaping plate of pancakes.

"So, buddy," Hellboy said, his words muffled by his mouthful of food, "Man to man. What do ya think of her?"

"I like her. Quite a bit, actually."

"And?" Hellboy pressed.

"And what?"

"Come on, Blue, you were shamelessly flirting with her. You think she's hot, don't you?"

"She is quite attractive," Abe admitted.

"Uh huh. I bet you want her to stroke your gills, eh? Touch your fins in just the right way?" He waggled his eyebrows at Abe teasingly.

"Now don't be crude, Red," Abe admonished.

Hellboy let out a booming laugh. "Ahhhh, old pal. You need to get laid."

Abe shook his head. Hellboy laughed again and picked up his plate to take it off to the kitchen.

"Seriously though, Red, there's one thing that worries me a little," Abe said.

"What? That you won't remember how to have sex?"

"Cut it out. Really, when I was reading her last night I felt something….different…about her."

"What do you mean?" Hellboy looked confused.

"I'm not sure. I can't place it. There's a part of her that feels lost. Not like in the way she was describing about her culture, though. Whatever it is, she's afraid of it. And she doesn't want anyone else to know. I think the fact that she has some mild psychic ability has something to do with why I can't figure out what it is. She's blocking it, not just from me, but from herself, too. Or trying to."

"Hmm." Hellboy scratched his chin. "What do you think we should do?"

"Nothing right now. I think it's a purely personal problem, one she's had for a long time. I think once she gets settled in here more, she might open up to us. For the time being, let's just make her feel as welcome as possible. Let her feel that she can trust us. Anyway," Abe changed the subject, "Are you coming to her first class today?"

"Looks like it. I hope it's not gonna be anything tough."

"No. Drawing for beginners. She's starting with the basics and going up from there. I don't think you'll have trouble."

"Mm. What time is it starting, anyway?"

"1:00 this afternoon."

"Ok. Well, I'll see ya there then."

"Will do." Abe finished the last of his egg.

Adele put some final touches on the examples she'd drawn on her presentation pad.

"Ok, guys, so here's some different pencil techniques: Light lines, heavy lines, gradient shading, uniform shading, crosshatching, and pointillism. The papers you've got in front of you all have several identical cubes printed on them. I want you to try each of these techniques on those cubes, and then we'll move onto the next step. Any questions so far?"

"Oooh, oooh!" Hellboy waved his hand in the air.

Adele grinned. "Yes?"

"Why did Van Gogh cut his ear off?"

Adele laughed. "Ok, let me rephrase that. I meant questions on the subject at hand. But because I happen to know the answer to your question, I'll tell you. For a time he worked with a painter named Paul Gaugin. Anyone heard of him?"

"I have," Abe offered.

"Of course you have," Hellboy huffed.

"Can I help it that I read a lot?" Abe shrugged.

"Ahem." Adele interjected. "As I was saying, Van Gogh worked with Gaugin for a time. Unfortunately though, they didn't get along very well. Conflict of interests, I guess. They got in a particularly bad fight one day, which ended with Gaugin storming off. Van Gogh was already having some serious mental issues at this time. He was depressed and probably schizophrenic, as he sometimes heard voices, and might have had some lead poisoning from constant contact with and possible ingestion of his oil paints. Anyway, he was so upset that for some reason he decided that he'd cut off part of his ear. He didn't cut the whole thing off, just the lobe. He put the severed part in a little box and gave it to a hooker at one of the brothels that Gaugin was known to frequent, with a little note that said, "I'm not listening."

Everyone laughed. "Is that really true?" Hellboy asked.

"Apparently. That's how I learned it in art history."

"Sounds like art history isn't as boring as I thought," Hellboy sounded surprised.

"Oh, I learned some pretty interesting stuff, that's for sure. And not always stuff that had to do with art, either." Adele mused. "Do you know why sperm whales are called 'sperm' whales?"

"I'm afraid to know," Hellboy said.

"In the 1800's, cold cream was formulated with the addition of actual sperm from these whales. They believed it was good for the skin."

Liz covered her mouth. "Ew. Ew. I am never going to use cold cream again."

Hellboy laughed loudly. "Hey! It's like bukakke in a jar!" He exclaimed.

"Ha! Well, maybe back then, but they don't put whale sperm, or anything else's sperm, for that matter, in cold cream anymore. Don't worry, Liz." Adele's eyes sparkled with mirth.

Hellboy leaned close to Abe, who was working on his drawing. "I bet I know where you'd like to put your sperm," He whispered lewdly. Abe kicked him under the table.

"Ow!" Hellboy yelped.

"Can't you two behave like you're any older than 10?" Liz scolded. "Adele's trying to teach us here."

"He started it," Abe mumbled.

"Adele?" Prof. Broom appeared in the room, accompanied by a middle-aged, balding man. "Hope we aren't interrupting. This is Agent Manning. He was out when you arrived last night."

"Hello," Adele shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, young lady. Look like you've got everyone under control here, eh?"

"Except for the little boys," Liz muttered.

"Ok, ok! We'll be good!" Hellboy exclaimed.

Manning arched an eyebrow at them, then looked at Adele. "No worries. I have enough problems trying to keep them in line myself."

Adele shrugged. "Boys will be boys."

"May we watch the progress of this class?" asked Prof. Broom.

"Sure!" Adele said. "There's only about 20 minutes or so left to go. But have a seat."

The Professor and Manning settled themselves in and observed with interest as Adele went on to give examples of perspective and rendering in 3 dimensions. After everyone tried out the techniques for themselves, she announced, "Ok, everyone, that's it for today. Tomorrow we'll be trying still life drawing. Just simple objects, so don't panic."

"Oooh, Red! I've always wanted to try that. How about you?" Liz asked Hellboy in anticipation. Hellboy grunted.

Everyone began to pack up their supplies. Manning shook hands with Adele again, and him and the Professor left.

"I've got to say, Broom," Manning mentioned as him and the Prof. Walked down the hall. "I'm impressed. She seems like a nice, normal girl. Maybe she can teach some refined tastes to those savages."