Colin's posts

Emerald nodded slowly in response.

"Of course." he replied with a smile.

"Of course I'll let you." he told her.

"Just... not right now." he finished with a small chuckle.

Some time later, Azazel's eyes twitched slightly, and he stirred.

"Nnngh... urgh..." he groaned, as his eyes fully opened.

"...what the...?" he asked quietly, as he tried to get up, but found himself a little wobbly and unsteady.

"Ow... ok, bad idea." he murmured, laying back down.

"We're fine." Emerald replied.

"We're one of the few that got off relatively easy here." he told her.

"And... well... we're making sure every last trace of the little things are gone." he went on.

"As in, permanently." he stressed.

"The last thing Vi and I want is for this to happen again." he told her.

"...we already lost one home to it... it doesn't need to happen again."

Aly nodded in response.

"Sure thing." she said.

She then left to do so, and Ryker thought for a moment.

"No horror..." he muttered.

"Well, that service has the 'King of the Rings' trilogy." he told Eke.

"Care for some high fantasy?" he asked.

Emerald just sighed in relief.

"That's good." he said.

"You're recovering. That's all that matters." he said further.

"Odds are you'll be laid up for a bit, though." he then muttered.

"Won't be at 100% for a while."

"Ah, right." Emerald said.

"Yes, I need to apologize to him." he told her.

"Er... well... yes." he then mumbled.

"Yes, I should apologize to Agent Sharp." he reiterated, before sighing quietly.

"How are you feeling? Like, specifically?" he then asked.

"Still feeling the effects of what happened? Or just... not feeling the best, or what?"

"....." Emerald was silent for a moment, before looking at her.

"R-really?" he asked.

Rylie just nodded in response, and Emerald looked ready to tear up.

"....th-thank you." he said.

"Thank you. I... just... thank you." he said further.

He then sighed lightly, before looking at her and smiling softly.

Emerald winced a bit at the last part, and it was clear he was feeling immensely guilty about it... and that he'd missed the light smirk from her.

"I..." he stammered.

"No... no, I didn't." he said.

"I swear, I did not intend for this. I..." he said further, before pausing and biting his lip.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered.

"...even though I know that means nothing, I'm sorry..."

"........essentially." Emerald mumbled.

He then sighed, and gave her a small and truncated explanation as to what had happened.

"...so... so yeah..." he muttered.

"If it wasn't for me and my sister, this wouldn't have happened." he said.

"It's effectively MY fault this happened to you."

"....a while." Emerald replied.

"Like... almost 5 days now." he told her.

"A lot of people have already woken up, but some are still out cold." he continued.

"Mostly those that more heavily require mana to... well... live." he said further.

"...and I'm glad you woke up." he then admitted.

"I wouldn't have forgiven myself if you hadn't..."

"......" Ryker was silent, before shrugging.

"Sure." he said.

"Or at least until the power goes out." he laughed.

"What should we watch?" Aly asked.

"Well, they have some good stuff on that new streaming site." Ryker then commented.

"....I..." Emerald stammered

"Yeah, I guess so." he said.

"Crazy timing, huh?" he asked further.

"How are you doing?" he then asked. "Should I get someone to come take a look at you?"

A few seconds after she got comfortable, she heard Emerald's voice.

"Ah-!" he started to exclaim, before he clamped his mouth shut.

"R-Rylie!" he whispered, moving from where he was and getting up beside her.

"You're awake!" he said further, relief more than evident in his tone.

"Are you all right? How do you feel?" he asked her.

His mind was racing, and he knew someone needed to be told about this, but at the moment, he was just so happy to see that Rylie was awake again.

"......." Zeke was silent for a moment.

"Shit. Right." he said.

"Where's my phone?" he asked, looking for it.

Angela was silent and handed it to him.

"Thanks." he told her with a smile.

He then sighed, and dialled his mother's number, putting the phone to his ear to ready himself for the conversation.

"....okay then." Zeke responded quietly.

He then laid back and stared at the ceiling.

"At least I'm awake." he said.

"At least I'm alive." he went on.

"...thank heavens for that." he mumbled further, and then looked at her again.

"Thanks, Angela." he then told her.

"Something tells me our recovery and survival has a lot to do with you."