The three of them enter Jasper's room. Rianna doesn't know what to expect, since she doesn't know him that well, except that he is a pothead. And judging from Jimion's reaction, he doesn't know Jasper well either.
The room is dark, the walls are painted black on 3 sides, and one side, the one against his bed, is filled with murals. Something that resembles a big bird on fire against a black purplish background. He has pitch black curtains, a thick one and double sided to make sure no light can penetrate the room. There's only one lamp in this room, a desk lamp that sits on a huge desk with a desktop and 3 huge screens. Next to the desk, there's a drawing table, big and tilted with under lamps still lit on.
"Well, this is…" Rianna searches for words, but she is practically speechless.
"Awesome?" suggests Jasper.
"Different" Rianna corrects him. "You draw a lot then?"
"It's my job isn't it?" answers him while pointing to the murals on his bedside wall. "I'm a graphic illustrator, freelancer. I drew that one myself."
Jimin walks closer to the murals and puts his hand on it as if to feel the texture of it. "Bird on fire.."
"Phoenix. A bird that rises from ashes, they live and in the end burn themselves until they become ashes and then reborn. Cycle of life!"
All three of them stand speechless admiring the bright orange phoenix with red-golden plumage and her long tail curled up almost touching her head, making almost a perfect cycle, just as what Jasper just explained to them: cycle of life.
"I thought you were just a big pothead and a dick to be honest. Never guess that you actually have a decent job and you are actually good at it too" mutters Rianna.
Jasper clacks his tongue. "Well, in your defense, I am a pothead and I have a big dick. I can understand that it confuses you." He winks. "And you, Jim my man, what do you think?"
Jimin takes his time to answer. "Why does it have to burn itself to ashes though?"
"Hmm.. " Jaspers put his fingers to his chin. "Have you ever heard any legend about phoenix?"
They both shake their heads. Jasper smiles. "There's a lot of versions and variations that exist in folklore throughout the world. You can google it. But my favorite is this one. Phoenix originally lived in an immortal world. But immortality didn't suit him very much."
"Why?" cuts Jimin. "I thought that was the goal? To live forever, do not die young, bla bla.."
"Well, we think like that because our life expectancy is low. Low compared to phoenix anyway. But yes. If you live for thousands of years, it may change your perspective a bit about immortality."
"My father told me that a party doesn't become more fun just because it lasts longer." reacts Rianna.
"Wise man." answers Jasper. "Anyway, Phoenix decided to escape to the mortal land to find some excitement and challenge he couldn't find in the immortal land."
"Did he find what he's looking for?" asks Jimin.
"Yes and no." replies Jasper. "He built a nest and sit on it. And then he saw the sunrise, he had never seen that before so he sang a song. He sang a song so beautiful that the God of Sun stopped his chariot for a while to listen to his song."
"And then what happened?" Now it's Rianna's turn to ask.
Jasper smiles. "Apparently the God of Sun stopped too long, and he burned the Phoenix. So the Phoenix and its nest were on fire for three whole days."
"Pitiful." murmurs Jimin. "He escaped immortality, a land with no problems and no trouble just to get burned. And all of that is because he had never seen sunrise."
"Hang on, I'm not finished yet." protests Jasper. "The Phoenix survived though. Well, in a manner of speaking. Apparently his passion, the fire inside him, burned brighter than the fire around him, that a new offspring came out of his ashes, and his old soul transmigrated to the new baby phoenix. Circle of life!"
"He survived because the fire inside him burned brighter than the fire around him." Rianna repeats him. "That's beautiful."
"Yep. Phoenix, my third favorite things in the world after pot, and beer. Oh wow, you brought Koninck? Fancy!" he says while rummaging through his drawers in search of a bottle opener between rolled joints. "I have Bavaria there!"
"Ugh Bavaria. What are you? Student?" mocks Jimin.
"Believe me, if you drink half a dozen of them, you won't even notice the difference." Jasper reassures him. He opens three Koninck beers and hands one to each of them.
"I don't drink beer." refuses Rianna. She pushes the bottle away, and her left hand sleeve is pulled up, exposing the bandage on her wrist. The bandage is covering the burn wound she got the day before.
Jimin catches the glimpse of the white bandage under her sleeve and pull her left hand right away, the bottle on Jasper's hand falls to the ground.
"Ouch, watch it" complains Rianna.
Jasper grabs his dirty trouser from the pile in the corner of his room and starts mopping the beer. "No worries, no worries! This room smells bad already, this is nothing."
Jimin stares at her and at her wrist, and Rianna knows what he thinks. "It's not what you think it is." she says through gritted teeth.
Jasper already comes back with new beer and pushes it to her hand. She doesn't even bother to refuse. She raises her bottle "proost!"
Her bottle meets Jasper's, but Jimin still hasn't moved. His eyes are still on her wrist. She looks at him with stern eyes. "Drink." she says in a low voice, imperiously.
And he drinks.