Colin's posts

"I am certain." Jaden responded.

"And I understand, we shan't move too quickly." he agreed.

"Is there anything you feel is pertinent to take right now?" he asked.

"I warn you, I have no guest bed, but my portals can move your own bed to my place easily." he told her.

"If that's not something you want to do, you can always sleep on my couch in the meantime." he then offered.

Jaden just sighed heavily.

"Of course she'd say that." he muttered. "She seems to have a THING for those like you, as I have recently learned." he mumbled further.

"But I assure you, you'll be no bother." he promised.

"If you wish, you can let your lease here run out and stay with me as a semi-permanent to permanent solution, depending on circumstances." he continued.

"Just find what you want to bring with you, and I can use my mana to have it there nearly effortlessly." he went on.

"And that includes furniture and such."

Leo smiled and they hugged each other, before he gathered his things and the food that was left over. Which was a lot.

He said his goodbyes to them and left, assuring them that he would disappear as soon as he was outside and out of view. When he was gone, Jaden looked at her, and nodded slightly.

"So." he said.

"He said you have two places to go." he told her.

"Which one are you going with?" he asked.

Leo just sighed quietly.

"I figured." he said.

"Well, then that leaves either staying with Jaden, or with... as you put it... 'Goth Girl' and 'Fish'..." he said further.

Jaden then paused.

"Goth Girl and Fish sounds like a friggin' Japanese light novel." he commented, causing Leo to laugh.

"I suppose so." he agreed.

"Anyway, Desiree, you take care." he told Desiree sincerely.

Jaden shook his head.

"Bah!" he exclaimed.

"Only thing you MAYBE have to pay me back for is the smoothie." he told her with a wink. "And even then, not sweating 8 bucks." he chuckled.

Leo was about to say something... when his stomach grumbled lightly.

"...yes...." he admitted sheepishly.

"Then let's eat!" Jaden declared.

"Hm?" Jaden mumbled.

"OH! These!" he stated, seemingly just remembering the bags. "Right, kind of?" he answered. "However, these are for your friend." he stated.

"Me??" Leo asked.

"Well, you're doing a lot for Desiree." Jaden said.

"I may have just met her, and I hardly know YOU, but I know that one good turn deserves another." he continued. "So I ordered from a nice place I know of, and decided to share. Which is to say, give the majority to you." he laughed.

"Oh!" Leo responded. "Well... fair enough, then."

"Oh, Lifelong Fitness." Jaden responded.

"Isn't that a gym?" Leo asked.

"A 24-hour gym." Jaden told him. "I have a membership there, but their smoothie bar is open to the general public. You just aren't able to get the protein shakes if you're not a member, and you can't hang around and such as well." he added.

"Huh. I see." Leo said.

"They're 5 minutes away from where I live." Jaden then chuckled.

Leo chuckled lightly.

"I've seen you get frustrated over them." he said. "So it's... heavily implied." he told her. "But you seem to be getting better and better with your speech overall." he commented."And that's really awesome." he added with a smile, as there was a knock on her door.

"It's me!" Jaden called in.

"C-c-come in!" Desiree called back.

After some minor fumbling, they heard the door open and shut, and Jaden came into view, two plastic bags on his wrists, with paper take-away bags inside them, and a large smoothie in one of his hands.

"...that smells..." Leo mumbled with a sniff. "...that what I THINK it is...?" he asked.

Leo looked confused for a moment, but before he could say anything, her phone rang. It was Jaden.

"Yeah, hi." Jaden said when she answered.

"Can you confirm that I'm me, and I'm welcome here at your apartment?" he asked, before she heard minor fumbling, and could then tell that she was on speakerphone now.

"Yo." the 'guard' said. "This guy's cool, Ms. McCormick?" he asked.

"He is." Desiree confirmed.

"Good enough for me." the man responded, as Jaden took the line again.

"Be up in a minute." he told her.

"Right, forgot about them." Leo admitted. "But I know you, and you'd be constantly worried about getting in their way." he said. "Plus... we both know your allergies would be a constant concern." he lamented.

"And it sounds like he's a solid guy. I'm sure he wouldn't have offered if you would be an imposition." he assured her.

"So if you think you can trust him, then that's a big step." he said.

"However, his place." he went on.

"Do you think it's secure enough to protect you from... them?" he inquired.

Leo pondered what she said, before shaking his head.

"I agree. Here is no longer safe." he said.

"And you KNOW you are welcome to stay with Nakia and I. We've made that VERY clear." he told her.

"...however, I ALSO know that you have your reservations, as it is SO far removed from here." he then admitted. "Which is understandable." he continued.

"That being said, it's not safe for you to be here, or a shelter, or anything like that." he went on. "And you sure as HELL can't stay in a hotel or motel. Too expensive." he reasoned.

"It seems like your only options are with me and Nakia, or with that Jaden fella." he concluded.

"And do you trust him?"

"....hm." Leo mumbled.

"Well, I'm going to prepare a replacement, anyway." he said.

"Seriously, that thing might be one more accident away from conking out permanently." he warned.

"So just know that I AM going to prep a replacement for you." he stated.

He then just sighed, and looked around her apartment.

"....so... what now for you?" he asked.

"You never have to apologise for that." Leo said, before looking over the phone, and sighing.

"I can repair it, but... something tells me that this damage might be the damage that makes your phone teeter on the edge of dying permanently." he told her, shaking his head.

"I have some spare phones at home." he continued.

"If you want, back up all your important stuff to your card, and I'll move it on over to another phone." he offered.

"And yes, I'll make the tweaks so it syncs with your headphones."

Leo was silent, before groaning.

"Uuuuuugh." he muttered.

"Fiiiiiiiiiine." he said in a drawn out tone.

"Seems like the work fine, though?" he asked.

"No static or weird muting or anything?" he asked further.

"Or are they pretty much back up to snuff?"