Colin's posts

Ashley was silent, before just nodded.

"Yeah... yeah, sure..." he said.

"So what should we do with the packs?" Lindsay asked.

"I have no idea." Ashley admitted.

"Though if there's food in them, take it out before it spoils." he then suggested... which told Lindsay and Anya that, at the very VERY least, he was in no absolute hurry to leave any longer.

"..." Ashley was silent again as he looked at the packs.

"...I see." he said.

"Thank you." he told her, before going to a chair and sitting down in it.

"I want to stay here." Lindsay told him. "But I don't want to be separated from my brother even more." he went on. "So... so when you're ready, we'll both go." he told him further.

"Yeah... when I'm ready." Ashley confirmed.

"When I feel 100% certain I am ready to go, we'll go." he stated.

"When do you think that'll be?" Lindsay inquired.

"...probably not for... a VERY long time..." Ashley mumbled.

Lindsay just nodded in response, as Ashley approached the choker.

"This... is this a trick?" he asked, before shaking his head.

"Why do I ask." he grumbled, before, seemingly by instinct... or maybe sheer curiosity... grabbing the choker.

And, much like Lindsay, he went through something VERY similar. To the point where Lindsay had to coax/force the choker out of his hands, and set it back on the counter, as Ashley staggered back.

"Wh.... what...? That..." he stammered.

"For real?" he asked Anya.

Ashley froze when he heard that.

"Wh-what...?" he stammered, backing up.

"So... so it's mind control." he said.

"It's... mani... maninip... manip..." he stuttered further, before shaking his head.

"It's like that dark elf." he stated.

"Lindsay, snap out of it!" he then pleaded to his brother.

"Not... necessarily..." Ashley admitted.

"But... something's off." he said.

"Off?" Lindsay asked. "In what way?" he asked further.

"There's some strange... mana... on you." Ashley responded to his brother. "It's... faint. Subtle. But it's there." he went on.

"Or am I just messed up from earlier?"

"...my head hurts a little, yeah, but... uh... I feel overall fine." Ashley responded.

"That's great!" Lindsay said.

"I'm glad the rest helped!" he told him... which caused Ashley to look confused.

"...what...?" he mumbled.

"Lindsay, what is UP with you?" he asked his brother. "You seem... unreasonably happy. Like, you are in such a good mood, it's... weird."

Ashley looked towards Anya, and sniffed the air again.

"...Iron-Tooth Bear?" he asked.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Anya responded.

"Heh." Ashley chuckled. "Knew I recognised that scent." he commented, as his stomach growled. Loudly.

"...I... could definitely eat, yes." he then admitted sheepishly.

"And Lindsay helped make it, huh?" he asked.

Lindsay just nodded in response, enthusiastically.

"All right!" he replied, before quickly disappearing up the stairs.

A matter of about 5 minutes later, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and these ones were slow. And deliberate. She knew they were Ashley's, but also Lindsay's were beside them.

She looked over towards the stairs, and saw the brothers come into view, Ashley using Lindsay to keep himself standing.

"......smells good down here." the former said after a pause.

Again, he nodded.

"All right." he said, as he started to work on the meat, slicing and cutting it into pieces that would be suitable for the stew.

About an hour or so later, while Anya and Lindsay were now into the cooking stages of the stew, Ash's eyes shifted ever-so-slightly, and they opened. He was staring at the ceiling for a moment, and he then immediately rose to a sitting position.

"Wha!?" he exclaimed, before grabbing his head.

"Owwww..." he mumbled, looking around and seeing the piece of parchment, which he grabbed and read... silent as he did so.

"...Lindsay..." he said quietly, a number of thoughts running through his head now.

Lindsay nodded in response.

"Yep!" he said proudly.

"Then go on to the storage closet and check." Anya told him, explaining where it was and such. Lindsay nodded again, before rushing to get it. He found the door easily enough, and when he opened it to check, he was almost overwhelmed by the mana inside it. He looked around, a bit distracted, before finding a nice, sizeable hunk of bear meat, perfectly preserved.

He grabbed it and made his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him, and making his way back to Anya.

"Found it!" he declared.

Lindsay then paused, and thought for a moment.

"Just some meat and vegetables would be good." he told her. "Like a nice piece of meat, and various root vegetables, like potatoes and carrots and stuff." he explained further.

"...but if that's not an option, stew is always good." he then said.

"It's filling, it's easy to eat, and it's good for you." he reasoned.

"And a lot better than scraps, or what we were given when with Mistress."

Lindsay just nodded and made his way up to the room. He stepped inside, and still saw his brother, asleep on the bed. He walked over towards him, checked him over, made sure the note was still there, and then sighed.

"...please wake up soon, Ashley..." he said.

"I miss you." he finished.

He then turned and headed out of the room, sparing one last glance at Ashley, before closing the door and heading back downstairs.

"Still asleep... but seems to look a LOT better." he told Anya when he got there.

Lindsay paused a moment, and then nodded.

"Yeah... yeah, good idea." he said.

He looked up in the direction of where his brother was, and then looked back at Anya.

"I'll go check on him now." he told her.

"And what do YOU like to eat for food?" he asked.

"Because I like just about anything." he smiled.

After hearing that, Lindsay smiled widely.

"Of course!" he responded.

"That would be lovely." he told her, getting up and going to the violin again, picking it up and holding it more properly than last time.

"All right, I'm ready." he said.

"Where do we start?" he asked.