Colin's posts

"..." Jake was silent as he looked at the image, and then sighed.

"Meh." he said. "Wouldn't have been the first time, photos have been taken in this area." he reasoned. "There's nothing here that's really incriminating or secretive or whatever, so... whatever." he shrugged.

He then continued to look at the image, and raised an eyebrow.

"...darn good pic, though..." he commented.

"Seriously. That is some intense quality there." he told her further. "If I didn't know that I was me, and that was a picture... given how it's completely still, one would think I'm lookin' through a window. Or in a mirror." he added.

"Anyway, you here to see the head-shrink?' he asked with a chuckle.

Sebastien had no issues with her snapping his photo all the time... well, not ALL the time, but it was frequent. And he was flattered. He would sometimes pose, but mostly, she just wanted natural shots, and he was all too happy to oblige. In fact, they had an agreement that, unless he outright stated he didn't what his photo taken at a specific point or place, then she was free to surprise photoshoot him anytime, anywhere.

However, as time went on, he did find himself feeling a little... weird. There were times where he felt himself being more internally judgemental to others, when he normally wouldn't be. He'd always managed to recognise this and put it away, but it was cropping up more often than not. He also found himself having a slightly darker sense of humour, even for himself, and was sometimes finding himself just... not caring about certain things. Not in an evil way, or in a sociopathic way, but... in a more... strangely apathetic way.

He wondered what was happening. Was the job too stressful? That couldn't have been it, his job was fine. He'd been a little busier the past while, but surely that wasn't enough to cause this.

Was he unhappy with Jordan? No, that couldn't be it, she was happier than ever, and he loved seeing that. He quickly discarded THAT option, and figured he was maybe just a bit on the tired side. As a nephilim, that was rare, but not impossible.

He would talk to Sharp about taking some stress leave or sick leave or something. He figured maybe 4-5 days would be enough. And he knew Evan could handle any of his own clients or patients. Evan wasn't specialised in what Bast did, but he'd managed before him, he was sure he'd be fine.

Bast responded with a return embrace, a hug and a kiss, before they let go and he nodded.

"You do that, then." he said.

"As it stands, I don't see myself working late." he told her as they left the outside patio area, though the gate in the fence. "But things can pop up unexpectedly." he mumbled.

"I'll text you if a hot mess comes in needing to be un-crazied." he added bluntly with an almost snarky laugh. But that was his demon half bleeding through. He didn't think that honestly and sincerely.

He just had a... unique... sense of humour.

"Hope everything ends up fine for your enrollment." he finished.

Bast chuckled lightly when she said that, and did what she did.

What followed was a very lovely and fulfilling lunch, with Bast picking up the tab as he'd promised he would when they agreed to go to lunch. He could afford it, and he knew that Jordan didn't have any problems with him covering their meals from time to time. It was mostly a 50/50 split on who covered it, anyway, so it was all fair. Once they were all paid up, they got up from the table.

"All right then." Bast said.

"Are you heading back home?" he asked.

"I should probably get back to work, myself." he commented, looking at the clock display on his phone.

"I don't have any appointments at the moment, but I do know drop-ins are just as important."

Bast nodded in response.

"Makes sense." he said. "A real shame that that relationship ended as sour as it did." he lamented, as he tried his best to just remain natural for the snaps that Jordan was taking.

"But... these things happen." he shrugged.

He then paused and looked around a bit, feeling something... off... in the air around him. He wasn't sure WHAT it was, but nothing seemed to be immediately different, so he hoped he was just being paranoid.

"Anyway." he then said.

"Let's enjoy lunch." he suggested.

"And odds are you should probably charge that internal battery soon." he continued. "Yes, it has a charge, but it could just BARELY have one."

Bastien laughed as well.

"So true." he said. "It was still rather hilarious, though." he stated, as their server arrived, took their drink orders, and then left to get them. He watched the server leave, before sighing.

"Well, so far it's been a very good day for you." he commented.

"I hope the camera goes over well with your father... when he finds out." he muttered.

"Your mother is the sort that she'll be fine with it, I'm sure."

Bastion nodded in response.

"I understand." he said.

"You do what you feel you must." he told her. "And I KNOW your father worries excessively about you." he then said. "I remember the fuss he made when he discovered we were getting together." he continued.

"Insinuating I was a hooligan and one that had better not hurt you." he said further.

"...and his brain breaking when he learned who my parents were." he then chuckled.

"My mother seems to carry a lot of intimidation."

Bast merely nodded in response.

"Yes, calling your Mother about this would be prudent." he agreed. "As for your Father, he'd better not have any issues with that." he then stated. "It's a high-end camera, and a necessary piece of equipment for you." he reasoned.

"If he has issues with THIS, I don't know WHAT will satisfy him in all this." he muttered.

"Seriously, I see no issues with you getting this, under the circumstances you have." he finished.

"..." Bast was silent as he heard that, before clearing his throat.

"Uh... right." he said. "If you want, feel free to give your Mom a call and tell her that's not going to be a thing any longer." he suggested. "I mean, I can understand if you want this camera to be a surprise or whatever, but... hoo boy, I can see your Dad NOT taking it well if he learns you were being potentially forced to take a term off from lack of equipment." he went on.

"So... maybe calling her and saying that's no longer a worry MIGHT be best." he reasoned, pausing for a moment.

"Unless you REALLY want to surprise them with this... super-good new piece of tech you just got." he then said.

"Seriously, this is equipment that is probably considered premium, in the consumer market." he muttered. "I'm not counting the cameras that cost $10,000 and up. Quite frankly, that makes my head spin." he told her.

Bast was about to finish on his phone, when she sent him the photo she snagged of him. He brought it up, and he had to admit, it looked good. REAL good. Again, it saw and felt almost... lifelike. It was amazing, and a little unnerving. It was almost as though he felt he was in two places at the same time. But that feeling was very brief, and it disappeared as quickly as it came. He then sighed and shook his head, before putting his phone away and looking at Jordan with a smirk.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"I would imagine so, as those photos are amazing quality." he told her.

"Your course should be pleased to see you have it now." he went on. "Should make things a lot easier, anyway." he added.

"Good thing we decided to come here." be then chuckled.

The man, Sebastien, heard his phone go off, and smirked at her.

"All right, all right." he said, as he dug his phone out and looked at what she had sent. He paused as he looked at the photo, and almost found himself... compelled by it. it was... stunning. It was crisp, it was vibrant, it was... practically lifelike. He sore he could almost get sucked into it, and it was almost like he was looking out a WINDOW... had it not been a still image.

He was silent for a good 5 seconds, before shaking his head lightly.

"Wow." he muttered.

"I know Sonitronic was good, but... damn, that's quality." he commented.

"Looks like you scored BIG." he told her with a small laugh.

"Grats!"

He just sighed in response, looking at the camera.

"I mean... yeah. Yeah, it DOES seem way to good to be true." he admitted. "And they say that if something seems too good to be true, it IS too good to be true." he went on, but then paused.

"...however, the fact that someone, this man in specific, had to go through such misery for you to get this camera could very well just be the proof that this ISN'T too good to be true. Like, there's the payment for it, there's the reality." he commented.

"Not to say that you should feel bad or anything." he quickly stressed. "I've seen and heard of things like this before. Someone just wants a fresh start, or to be rid of their sordid memories of the past, so they rid themselves of objects and possessions that may harbour those memories." he reasoned. "Plus... he DID say that this was to spite his ex..." he then mumbled.

"Eh, seems legit to me." he concluded.

"Better check to see if there's any photos or anything stored in its memory." he suggested.

The man shook his head once more.

"Just promise me you'll take care of it, and make sure it gets used to the fullest extent." he said. "Such a piece of equipment deserves to be utilised for only the best of intentions, in the hands of a good person." he told her.

"I promise." she responded. "This will help me more than you could ever imagine." she assured him, which caused him to smile sincerely.

"Good." he said. "And with that, I should be off. Odds are someone may think I'm attempting to harass you or something if I stick around much longer, and none of us need that hassle." he reasoned.

"While that might be a longshot, I understand." the black-haired man replied. "Thank you for this random act of kindness." he then said.

"Yes, thank you!" the young woman repeated.

"You're very welcome." the man told her. "You two have a lovely day, and cherish each other for the rest of your lives." he finished, before continuing on his journey. The two sitting down watched him go, until he turned a corner and disappeared.

"...looks like luck was smiling down on you today, Jordan." the man said, looking back at her.

The man shook his head.

"I don't want your money." he responded. "I don't want anything from you in return for this." he said further. "If you can genuinely use it, then please... put it to good use." he told her.

"But... why?" the man sitting down asked. "As she said, you could easily get 2 grand for this, even more if it's barely used." he told him. "So why just... give it away?" he asked further, growing more than a little suspicious now.

"..." the man was silent, before looking down slightly.

"I got that camera for my fiancée for Christmas last year." he revealed. "We weren't the sort to spend a lot of money on rings and stuff, so I got her a simple silver band, and that camera as an engagement ring/present combo." he told them. "And she was thrilled with it. She loved taking pictures of nature and stuff, so it was a gift she was really excited for." he continued.

"...about a month ago, I found out she was cheating on me with my cousin." he then sighed. "Not to go into a sob story or pity party, but when I confronted her, it got ugly. So I got out of there, and I made sure that she wasn't going to profit of me any longer." he said further, slight venom in his tone now, before he cleared his throat lightly. "So I gathered possessions of mine that had sentimental value to me, or could be pawned off to get some money back." he explained to them. "However, it's not about the money for me. I just didn't want HER to pawn the things off and still make a fool of me. I realise that may sound petty, but... well... yeah." he sighed.

"Believe me, that is more than understandable." the black-haired man stated.

"To really shorten this story, I was making my way to a pawn shop to see if I could unload this stuff, but I think it'd be better if it went directly to someone that will appreciate it." the new man stated. "So when I overheard that you wanted a new camera, and saw the hope in your eyes when you thought I'd seen a sale, I knew you would put that camera to good use." he told the woman.

"I don't need the money. I'm fine, financially. But I can't bring myself to outright destroy this stuff. So I'm going to pawn the rest, and move on with my life... try and get over her and move on with my life." he then sighed.

"Sorry to give a bit of my life story to a pair of strangers, but the more context you have for a sudden gift like this out of nowhere, the better, I feel." he added at the end.