This wasn't working. Varrick had been hanging upside down, eating peppers for forty five minutes now and still no new ideas. He was starting to see spots in his vision. After conceding to his way of brainstorming not working, he flipped out of the device. When he landed he started to sway. Zhu li was immediately at his side to steady him. She helped him to his chair.

Now Varrick was annoyed. He couldn't come up with any new ideas, he couldn't stand upright without assistance, and his usual methods were not working! How was he supposed to stay on top of the market with no new ideas?

"What am I doing wrong?! At the very least I have to keep the blood flowing," he got up to start pacing and then began to sway again. Zhu li rushed back to his side but Varrick stopped her with a sharp look. He sighed, "Why can't I think of anything?"

"Why don't you try a more traditional form of brainstorming, Sir?"

Varrick groaned, "Traditional is just another word for boring," He went back to his desk and slumped in his chair. "So what exactly is this 'traditional form of brainstorming'?"

"Well, Sir, usually it starts with a conversation. Sort of like the conversation we had when we first started working together."

Varrick then faced her head on, "Now that was a good day. I still think it would be amazing to be able to replicate a form of bending. Though we should probably stay away from any lightning related work; the Equalists kind of made that market toxic."

Zhu li nodded, "There are still plenty of other forms of bending, Sir; Normal fire bending, earth, metal, water, and air."

Varrick's eyes then brightened, "That's it,"

Zhu li looked slightly puzzled; though that was fairly common when working with such a charismatic and vivacious man. "What's it, Sir?"

"Air bending, we may not be able to sell to air benders, but we can to people who wish they were! A form of glider, but not like the staffs," He then pulled a large piece of graph paper from his desk. "More in the form of a parachute; you pull a string and a giant pair of wolf-bat like wings SPRING out!"

Zhu li got to taking notes of his out loud thinking. Usually listening to his ramblings came in handy for both business and her own personal position at his side. Half the time he hasn't even realized he had mentioned wanting something until Zhu li handed it to him.

"Now you would need a sturdy harness, you could possibly even have a secondary harness for a second passenger. I should probably make sure a prototype is in my personal prison cell. Just in case. Though a full product without kinks probably won't be out on the market for quite a few months,"

Still writing, she nodded. She had learned early in her career how to write fast enough to keep with his sporadic thoughts. She would also have to make sure that her notes made sense to the testing labs. Varrick has given them a hard time before for not understanding him, so she made sure that there was no mistranslation between them.

"The fabric will need to be strong but light, same with the frame for the wings,"

He could be going on like this for hours. She should probably make some tea.

"What would I do without you, Zhu li?"

Wait what was that. Zhu li stopped writing and looked at her boss who was still, very much, lost in thought. "Sir?" she said unsurely.

Varrick's eyes widened right before he shook his head, "Just thinking out loud Zhu li. Just ignore that part. Make a note, Zhu li, next time our average brainstorming doesn't prove fruitful, let's try that 'traditional methods'" And he got back to his sketching, nose down and flushed red.

Zhu li smiled shyly. She then noticed something. He was taking her suggestion seriously. What he thought at first was boring, he still tried it. Maybe he considered her ideas. Maybe it was just because of the benders conversation. That conversation always brought light into his eyes. They had talked about that conversation on and off throughout their career together. It was odd to think she was the one to first bring it up. He was the genius out of the two of them. It was odd that he even considered her ideas.

The idea warmed her. Even if he saw her as a cold hearted war-machine, she still felt warm when around him. And just the idea that he needed her and considered her, was something that even all of Varrick's money couldn't buy.