Lindsay was smiling, brimming with excitement, while Ashley looked a little more... subdued, but still happy.

"Amazing!" the former declared.

"We discovered SO much, and we have new things to show you, as promised!" he told her.

"Surprisingly, Lindsay didn't die as much as usual." Ashley then commented.

"I suppose we were luckier in picking out what to try this time around."

The boys looked at each other, before Lindsay put his back down and dug through it, pulling out a shiny, glittery stone that he had found. Anya looked at it, and saw that, while it was very pretty, indeed, it was one of the more common gemstones that could be found out there. However, it would still be useful to someone that crafted jewelry, she was sure... or maybe she could incorporate it into her own work. It WAS a sizeable sample, after all.

"We found this." Lindsay stated.

"Not sure if it IS anything interesting, but it seemed it." he told her.

"We also found this." Ash then interjected, digging into his own pack and taking out a natural crystal.

That was much more interesting when compared to the gem, as the crystal seemed to be the raw form of one that could contain mana.

Lindsay looked proud of his discovery, and cheered as such.

"Yay!" he exclaimed. "Maybe help me sell it soon?" he asked her. "I don't know how much things are worth." he said.

Ash, meanwhile, looked at the crystal intently.

"...house mana, huh?" he asked.

"Like, we could actually STORE mana in this?" he asked her.

"And how far down? Uh... well, we explored the cave until we saw some weird glowing." he told her. "And it wasn't the insects, it was this weird... mossy plant that started to line the walls of the cave." he said. "We saw it there, and figured that maybe we'd best turn back, so we grabbed it and headed back to the mouth of the cave, where we'd set up camp."

Lindsay and Ashley looked at each other worriedly, before looking back at Anya.

"Guess we know not to go that far down any longer." Lindsay commented.

"Seemed like that moss was stopping at a hard line, too." Ashley told her. "Like, it was growing on the walls up to a certain point, but seemed to just stop there." he continued.

"So I don't think it will keep going all throughout the cave." he added.

"That makes sense." Lindsay agreed. "If I were to wager a guess, conditions for it to grow and thrive stop at that point. It's possible tiny mana-creatures live down there, and are natural prey for the moss."

Ashley looked to be contemplating the crystal, as Lindsay thought a moment.

"Well, tomorrow works." Lindsay stated.

"I can do it then, if you want." he told her.

"...I need to think on this crystal." Ashley then said.

"I'm not... sure what to do with it at the moment..."

Lindsay nodded in response.

"All right." he said with a smile.

"..." Ashley was now silent, expect for the occasional mutter and mumble.

"Sell... or refine and keep..." he said to himself.

"Both sound good..."

Ashley raised an eyebrow at the thought of collecting them... and taking years.

"....hm." he mumbled.

"Fair enough." he said.

Already he was making plans. He figured that, as long as he didn't venture TOO far into the cave, he'd be able to keep collecting these crystals. He liked the thought of that, and planned on doing it.

"Anyway, I'm going to go inside and get a drink." Lindsay then said to them, before giving Anya a hug and stepping inside the home.

Ashley seemed to jolt back to reality when Anya said what she did, and gave her warnings and such, before sighing and shaking his head a little... and then chuckling quietly, sheepishly.

"I guess I AM easy to read..." he admitted.

"Fair enough, then." he said, agreeing to her terms, before then checking to see if Lindsay was anywhere in earshot. Seeing he wasn't, he then turned to Anya, and sighed quietly.

"So. That... that man that was here..." he mumbled.

"He... does he come by a lot?" he asked.

"And... what you were doing was a GOOD thing?" he asked further. She'd told him that before, but it seemed like he was just seeking confirmation at this point. He just wanted... NEEDED... to hear it again.

Ashley seemed to be confused for a moment, upon hearing that.

"Uh..." he mumbled, thinking again suddenly.

"Well... good to know I didn't hurt him." he said.

"Secondly... pay?" he asked.

"He pays you for that?" he asked her.

"I... didn't know people got paid for that. Or paid for it."

"...heh." Ashley chuckled.

"Cool." he said.

And with that, Anya DID see just how mature he was... how much he'd been forced to 'grow up'. If he had had any semblance of a 'normal' upbringing, he would have been outraged by all this. He would have seriously considered scorning her.

But here he was, thinking that her acts of rebellion were actually cool. He liked them.

"As long as you're not being hurt in ways you don't want to be." he said.

"I'll burn anyone that does that." he added sincerely, but darkly.