Colin's posts

"....hm." Rene mumbled.

"Then I'll stop by late tomorrow. Your time." he told her. "I'll make sure to show up here around 9pm your guys' time." he said further, bringing his hand to his chin and thinking about it.

'...yeah. Should be enough time to grab a crapton of that ice cream, grab a small deep freeze to put them all in, and then transport all there here.' he thought to himself. He was going all out with this. He knew everyone would love the ice cream, so it wouldn't JUST be a 'for Yuki' thing, but he knew Yuki would especially appreciate it.

Plus... one could argue he'd already paid back Jun and Vae...

"Anyway..." he then said.

"Sabrina, you feel up to mana travel once again?" he asked the shifter.

Rene paused, and just grinned, showing some of his razor-sharp teeth.

"Heh." he chuckled. "You got it." he said. "You want some of that ice cream, you got it." he told her.

"And I do love mango." Yuki then added, to help him narrow down what flavour to get her.

"Mango. Got it." Rene responded with a thumbs-up. He fully intended to get her... a LOT of that ice cream. If anything, he was going to SPOIL her with the amount he was planning to get. But he wasn't going to tell her that. Not right now.

She'd find out when he delivered her.

"I'll come back here in... a couple of days?" he then said.

"Do you have any heavy practice days, rehearsals, or shows in the next... 2 or 3 days?" he asked her.

Rene sighed in relief, before sitting down beside Sabrina, opposite Yuki.

"Good to hear." he said. "Glad you're feeling better, Sabrina." he then said to the shifter. "I realise this wasn't the nicest experience, but it was all I could think of, regrettably." he lamented. "But, despite Vae being... well, rough, she DOES get the job done. We've made progress in getting you free." he told her further, before looking at Yuki.

"And thank you for... well, allowing us to come here for help, not sending us away out of reasonable unease, due to Sabrina's... previous employers..." he growled. "...and thank you for staying here and talking to her." he then said further to Yuki.

"Is there anything I can do to help repay this?" he asked.

"Anything at all. Name it."

"Got it." Rene responded with a wink and a point at her.

"Also. Not girlfriend." he stated. "...maybe, in another world where I hadn't met Kalin..." he then mumbled, but then shook his head once more, said his goodbyes, and left the two of them.

He slowly made his way through the building, until he came to where he saw Yuki and Sabrina talking with each other. He smiled a little, and started to head over.

"Yo!" he called to them.

"How're things going?" he asked when he got closer.

"Feeling better, Sabrina?" he asked the shifter. "Now that the mark is gone, anyway?"

"...." Rene was silent as he heard the laugh, before clearing his throat.

"25?" he asked. "Oh... great..." he muttered. "Meaning Sabrina's probably been confused and scared for about 15 minutes." he then said, shaking his head again.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Jun interjected. "Yuki's probably helping, and you know how good she is at that." he said. "And if Kaia's back, she'll be helping too." he added.

"That's fair." Rene admitted.

"Well, thanks for the fun'n'games, you two!" he then told them. "Always good to get a good workout here!"

"At this point, who cares?" Rene responded.

"Impeccable response!" Jun declared, as the three of them prepared themselves.

Not that it helped, Vae had run the two men practically ragged, and Rene had to struggle to keep himself standing, needing to use the wall to keep himself from falling to his knees.

"Holy... holy crap." he muttered.

"I always forget what a workout it is when I visit here." he said further. "Seriously, I have a LOT of stamina... or at least, I always figured I did, but every time I come here, I question that." he continued.

"Perspective and relativity." Jun responded.

"Lanthas DO have amazing stamina and strength... but you're Gold-tier, generally surrounded by Silver-tier." he told him. "When you come here? You're playing with the Platinum-tier's boy." he explained.

"....fair point." Rene admitted.

Jun looked over towards Vae and the newcomer, Rene, before raising an eyebrow.

And then smirking.

"Well, then." he said. "It looks as though we're going to have some REAL fun, now." he commented further, laughing a little, as Rene just shook his head slightly, and looked at him.

"What can I say, I'm pretty much a toy for Vae." he admitted.

"Oh, we ALL are." Jun responded.

"Don't kid yourself, we're ALL her toys." he told him. "Kaia just happens to be the extra-special one."

"..." Rene was silent again, before just sighing.

"Yeah... yeah, okay." he said.

"I may be a Lantha, a doctor, a warrior, but I am a man." he admitted. "And trying to fight YOUR charms is like trying to fight the ocean with a broom." he finishing, taking her hand.

"...no fair, though." he then said.

"You're a Lilim. I stand NO chance." he chuckled.

"But... let's do this thing." he finished with a wink.

Rene raised an eyebrow when she made her suggestion.

"I... ah..." he stammered, before shaking his head and lightly slapping the sides of his head.

"Focus, Rene, focus." he told himself, clearing his throat.

"I... really should be concerning myself with Sabrina's safety right now..." he told her... though the more he looked into her eyes, the more he could feel his resolve weakening.

"But... I mean... you said she'd be out for 10... and... I guess it can be... quick..." he then reasoned, shaking his head again.

"Should I wait until Sabrina is conscious before moving her?" he managed to ask, sweating noticeably now.

Rene was silent as he looked Sabrina over, before looking over towards Vae and nodding.

"Right." he said.

"Thank you." he told her. "Seriously, I... yeah, when I heard what they had done to her, I couldn't NOT act." he reasoned, shaking his head slightly. "But thanks for helping her like that." he went on.

"Now I can get her somewhere that has a LOT more resources to help her... well, even more." he went on, realising how... awkward that sounded, but not really caring at the moment.

"And... hello again, Vae." he then properly greeted her.

"Sorry this little meet-up had to be under such circumstances."

Rene resisted the urge to say anything to Sabrina. But he could tell she was in pain, just wasn't saying anything. He guessed it was a trait/behavior that had been forced into her, and he hated it.

But he said nothing.

Instead, he subtly moved his hand over and placed it atop one of hers.

If she wanted to hold it, she could. If she wanted to squeeze it, she could.

All he could do was be there for her, and prove he was still there. That he believed in this. That he did have the best intentions.

"...ah. Right." Rene said. "Kaia might not be quite as strong as you, but... yeah, hm. Fair." he muttered.

"The mark on her." he then answered.

"I'll be taking her to San Diego afterwards, and THEY can deal with the mana lock on her shifting." he told her. "But I'll need to GET her there in the first place, which the mark... hinders. Severely." he continued.

"So yeah, go for that first, if you would be so kind?" he asked.

"Sorry to pop in unannounced like this, as well." he then apologised. "But this needed to happen quickly, and this was the first place I thought of that could give Sabrina the help she desperately needs."

Rene looked over at the new person, and smiled at the woman.

"Ah, hello, hello, Vae." he greeted her.

"Sabrina, this is Vae. She has HELLA-strong mana, and should be able to help you." he told Sabrina. "Seriously, there's not a lot she can't do." he then muttered, clearing his throat a little.

"Vae, this is Sabrina, a close friend of mine. She's been coerced into working for some very shady people, who have recently put a mana lock on her shifting abilities... even though she's a SHAPESHIFTER." he stated.

"She also has a mark on her that will kill her if she goes too far from a certain area." he then went on. "The bastards placed it on her, and the lock, when she tried to escape." he then said.

"Think you can help with either of those?" he asked.

Rene was silent for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"I'm sure you will." he told her.

"You'll get that chance. I promise." he said further, before looking ahead and thinking about something.

He knew he'd already stepped into it deep. REAL deep. He'd acted on impulse and emotion, and there was no going back now. He had to see this through. He wouldn't allow himself NOT to.

So he started thinking about San Diego... he needed to get the information straight, for them. And for the people here.

And he also needed to make sure that his and Sabrina's presence here would go unknown to the ring. The last thing the Hallowglades needed was the attention of THAT hellish organisation.