Colin's posts

Ash crossed his arms over his chest, and thought for a moment.

"True." he said.

"That IS a bit of a pickle, to understate it." he muttered.

"But the booster shot should buy her some time." he went on.

"Hm." he muttered further.

"I can ask my bother or Vincent if they have any literature on the subject-" he suggested, before sighing. "...but odds are you did that a while ago to CREATE the booster shot." he reasoned.

"Damn, guess you really need his cooperation." he said.

"Maybe we can get Lindsay here, see what's gotten into that boy's head?" he then suggested.

"....I... I see." Ash mumbled.

"That's... huh." he muttered.

"Want me to see if I can help?" he asked.

"I can hunt out some things to help prevent the petrification... or, well, halt it." he went on.

"...wait, odds are you already have that." he then realised.

"There ANYTHING I can do to help out?"

"......" Ash was silent as he heard all this, and raised an eyebrow at the end of it.

"I... ah... I see." he then said.

"That succubus situation sounds... complicated..." he mumbled.

"And... your weapon tech...?" he then muttered.

"Oh! That Mira girl!" he realised, snapping his fingers.

"Wait... wait, Ilias petrified her!?" he then exclaimed.

"......where IS he...?"

Ash was confused, and suddenly concerned.

"Not so nice things?" he asked.

"That's... vague and concerning." he told her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"And getting into people's heads?" he asked further.

"Anything... specific you can share?"

He just shrugged.

"Was delivering a wanted man here." he told her.

"I had some time to drop by here before going to your boss." he went on.

"How's things here?" he asked.

"And how are you doing?" he asked her further.

"Been a bit since we actually chatted."

Hal watched her go, and shook his head a little, before sitting down.

"Right." he said.

"Paperwork to get through." he mumbled.

Meanwhile, Ash had dropped the man off at holding, and had made a small detour to the lab.

He stopped at the entrance to it, and hit the small buzzer to let them know someone was there.

"Hope she has time for me." he said, before noticing there seemed to be a bit of an air of unease amongst the people he could see.

Hal shook his head.

"There's nothing else." he replied.

"I assume AJ will come here to discuss things with me." he went on.

"Thank you for coming to me with the info, as well as telling me about the incident with Trevor." he then said further.

"I'll speak with him about it." he told her.

"Need a hand up?" he then asked, offering his hand and smiling at her.

Hal brought a hand to his chin and thought about it for a moment.

"Hmm." he mumbled.

"That's fair." he said.

"If we have, I've forgotten. Or I'm not recalling it at the moment." he told her.

"Granted, stress can do that." he then muttered.

"It's been stressful the past month or so."

Hal was about to say something, but he paused.

"Eh?" he muttered.

"You are?" he asked.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked further.

He and Erica weren't the closest by any means, but they WERE closer than just employer and employee. He knew a bit about her, and at no point had she ever told him such a thing.

It confused him, to say the least.

But he wasn't about to put her on the spot right then. She'd already been through something, and was dealing with new active mana... but still, the statement caught him off guard, to understate it.

Hal just sighed.

"I see." he said.

"I'll keep that in mind." he told her.

"...." he was then silent, and shook his head.

"If you need to take time off from this, feel free to do so." he then said.

"I don't want you to unnecessarily strain yourself."

Hal just shrugged.

"Very well." he said.

"Though I'll need to speak with Trevor personally." he muttered, grabbing a bottle of water from his private mini-fridge and bringing it over towards her.

"Here." he said, offering it to her.

"If nothing else, have a drink." he told her further.

"And do whatever you feel you need to in order to bounce back from this little... encounter." he added.

"......" Hal was silent for a moment.

"I see." he said.

"Great." he muttered. "ANOTHER agent going crazy on me." he growled.

He then sighed, and got to his feet.

"Think you should head to the medical wing?" he asked.

"Trevor's fire can be pretty potent."

"...ah!" Hal exclaimed.

"AJ is here." he said.

"And it's Gainsley?" he then asked, letting out a low whistle.

"Good! One less headache to deal with." he muttered.

"...and you will recover? That's good." he said.

"But what happened?" he asked her.

"Or are you swearing to secrecy?"

After a second or two, she heard the one inside beckon her in.

"Ah, hello Erica." he greeted her when she stepped inside.

"What is it?" he asked.

"...." he then paused for a moment, shaking his head.

"Sorry if that was curt, I'm a bit stressed." he apologised.

"What can I help you with?" he rephrased.

"And you look a bit unsteady. Everything okay?" he then asked her.