Colin's posts

"Oh!" Ash exclaimed.

"I see." he said.

"Well... I mean... swings and roundabouts, I suppose." he then said further with a shrug.

"You seem... oddly calm about that." Illias commented, to which Ash said nothing. Didn't even seem to acknowledge that a question was asked.

"Um..." Illias muttered, before Ash looked at him.

"Sorry, did you ask something?" he asked.

"I just said... that you seemed oddly calm about learning what Gemini is." Illias commented.

"Oh!" Ash said. "Sorry, buzzing kicked up again." he apologized.

"And I know a LOT of weird people in this world. Something like this barely registers as 'weird'." he chuckled.

"........" Ash was silent as he heard that.

"Ah..." he stammered.

"That... explained everything, yet nothing at the same time." he said.

"But... I've learned not to dig where I may not be welcome to." he went on with a sigh.

"By the way, if it feels like we're in the middle of an earthquake, we're not." he then told the group. "It's just a small ripple effect from the Seismic Gauntlet." he assured them further.

Aly blushed from the sudden kiss, and wasn't sure if this was the proper time for it... but she quickly stopped overthinking it, and gave in to her emotions and desires.

She had been scared for Eke's safety.

Eke was now all right.

That was good enough for her right now. Not as his nurse, but as the woman that loved him.

So she returned the kiss with just as much passion, wrapping her arms around him, and allowing their lips to caress each other.

Ash was silent for a moment, raising an eyebrow.

"....hm." he mumbled.

"What is it?" Illias asked him.

"Oh, nothing." Ash replied.

"Just... I've been alive for a bit, and I've seen a LOT in this world." he then said. "But you're something new to me." he told Gemini.

"I've never seen one like yourself before."

"Yup." Ash confirmed.

"I can stay." Gregory said.

"Regardless, get the one that's staring at it to stop staring at it, so they can leave and Casey can do the deed." Ash told everyone.

"And Casey, as usual, make sure you're staring at it until the cracks start to form." he then told Casey.

"Once that happens, it's immobile... for the most part. It can still move, just REALLY sluggishly."

"YOU don't have to live with her." Ash replied.

"She seems to know what this will do to her, and if I stand in the way, I'll suffer the consequences in so many little ways that it'll be miserable for me." he lamented.

"This way it'll just be my brother pissed off at me, and even while deaf, I can take him on." he said flippantly.

"So... you know what, let's let the kitty see the power of the gauntlet." he went on, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just remember what they say about cats and curiosity, Casey." he then warned Casey.

"Ohhhhhh no." Ash replied.

"No, no, no, no." he said.

"The first hit of that is the big one. Each subsequent use is minor in comparison." he told Casey. "...for the most part..." he mumbled.

"Listen, we can take it more than you can. Not to downplay your skills or anything." he then said.

"But you can't just decide that you're going to temporarily cripple yourself, just to prevent us from getting that LIIIITLE bit MORE temporarily crippled." he continued.

He then paused for a moment, and sighing heavily.

"Buuuuuuuut this is something you're going to be stubborn on, I'm guessing, so for the sake of not drawing this out any longer than it needs to be... just... fine, do it." he grumbled.

"But do NOT blame ME when you suddenly find yourself unable to do commissions for clients."

"Mm." Ryker mumbled.

"....hm." Aly muttered.

"Well, whatever." Ryker said.

"He... doesn't have a good history with them." he told Aly. "We'll leave it at that." he finished.

"Okay then." Aly said.

"Regardless, I'm going to go call a doc to see if they can show up here and look Eke over." Ryker then said, before leaving the room to make the call.

"I know, I know." Ryker replied.

"No shrinks." he reiterated.

Aly looked confused when she heard that.

"Don't ask." Ryker told her.

"Eke will tell you when he's good and ready." he said.

"I understand." Aly replied.

Ash was silent, and sighed.

"Yeah, yeah." he said.

"Here." he told her, handing her the gauntlet.

"Damn it, it's fun to activate that thing." he then mumbled, before wincing noticeably.

"...not fun when THAT flares up." he added, thumping his ear again.

"It makes you lose your hearing?" Illias asked.

"The sensory loss is different from person to person." Gregory replied. "But it will generally rob you of your most precious sense." he added.

"Hey, I can be fast." Ash responded.

"Anyway, I assume that's the statue?" he asked, gesturing to the statue in question.

"It is." Illias replied.

"All right, let's do thi-" Ash started to say, before he paused suddenly.

"....what is it?" Illias asked.

"Ahhh hell." Ash growled, thumping his ear with his palm.

"That buzzing noise is returning, louder than before."

Jake looked over towards Miki, before pressing the button.

"In ya go, then." he said.

Ash just sighed, and walked through the door, greeting Miki as he did so.

"Yo." he said quietly.

"All right, let's go." he said.

"I have no friggin' idea where I'm going." he then added.

As she left, Gregory shook his head.

"I should be complaining more." he said.

"But truth be told, I'm glad for the little break." he admitted.

"...you didn't hear that from me, though." he then added quietly, looking around some.

Meanwhile, as Miki made here way to the security check, she saw Ash and Jake talking to each other.

"...and you have clearance for the artefact?" Jake asked, motioning to the black and red gauntlet he was holding.

"More or less." Ash replied, which caused Jake to raise an eyebrow.

Gregory just sighed.

"Of course." he muttered.

"Can't... well, I mean... wait, I thought... that pretty much all the other statues had been destroyed already?" Illias said, sounding confused.

"And can't we get him here, or at least get the artefact here quickly?" he asked.

Kiah knew of a way, as did Miki... but it revolved around Ash being okay with Hal bringing him there.