Colin's posts

"........" the man was silent, and shook his head.

"I do not." he replied.

"She looked familiar to me, vaguely, but I cannot tell you why." he said.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot be of any help to you in that regard." he lamented.

"But thank heavens she is all right." he went on.

"I have no idea why she was wandering about in this storm."

Ryker listened to what Eke had to say, and started to look as well.

Eke was frantically searching, but he tried to maintain his calm... and in the end, it was for the better.

"Calm down, it's not good for your heart to stress like this." he reminded Eke.

"Besides, here it is." he said further, taking a book out of its place.

"Here." he told him, handing it over.

Ryker nodded, and placed a hand on Eke's shoulder.

"Yep." he said.

"Remember, I'm here for ya." he told him.

He was then silent, and just smiled.

He knew Eke was nervous, he was as well, but Eke for very different reasons. But he knew that this needed to be done, and he knew Eke could do it.

He believed in him.

"..............." the man was silent, before checking her over. He looked to see if she was bleeding anywhere, or if she was, if it was serious or not, and he checked her breathing.

He then sighed, and brought the girl back to his car, laying her down in the backseats.

"Poor thing." he said quietly.

He then got in the driver's seat, and started to drive off, much more slowly than before.

However, he deviated from his previous course, and made his way to the ER of the closest hospital. Once there, he told the nurses about the girl, and they immediately started to tend to her.

The man sighed once more, and sat down in some nearby seats, waiting to hear the verdict.

Ryker just sighed.

"Well, excuse me for being nervous in a place I'm not supposed to be." he said, half-joking.

"And the Hall of Records. Right." he went on.

"Sounds like a hell of a place." he told him.

"There any way I can help when we get there?" he asked him.

Ryker kept his fears silent, and kept a stoic look in his eyes. He nodded to the guards, and followed Eke through, only daring to speak when they were several metres away from the guards.

"...that was nerve-wracking." he said quietly.

"I thought for sure they would question me or something." he admitted.

"But... but they didn't. I'm here in dragon country." he went on.

".......never thought it would happen." he continued.

"I'm kinda giddy, but hella nervous."

Ryker returned the hug and remained silent, not speaking until Eke told him to use the dust.

"For starters, you were right. You shared my candies, and it DID cheer me up." he told him.

"I'm sorry if you feel we're not as close as before, but that could just be because the nature of our relationship has changed." he then said further.

"However, I PROMISE you that I'll never leave you. If we go to sleep together, we'll wake up together." he went on.

"And I can assure you that the last three years have not been a dream." he finished, before opening the bottle and using the dust... and within a matter of seconds, his eyes turned green and reptilian, and coal-coloured horns sprouted from his head.

The man just sighed as he turned the windshield wipers on... but it seemed to do little good.

He had short brown hair that looked slightly mussed, some stubble on his face that looked like a 5 o'clock shadow, and was dressed in semi-formal clothing... which meant a dress shirt and casual jeans, as well as clean sneakers. He had spent a late night at his workplace, a high school, grading papers, and it showed with how tired and weary his blue eyes were. He wasn't a teacher as his primary vocation, but he WAS a substitute teacher, and History was something he knew QUITE well.

However, because he stayed so late, a horrendous rainstorm had started up, which... coupled with how dark it was... made visibility quite low. He didn't have to take his car home, he had another mode of transportation, but... he knew there would be questions asked if he left his vehicle there.

"Darn it all." he muttered, as he sped up the wipers.

"This weather is-" he started to say, before his headlights (combined with the faint glow the streetlights were giving off), revealed what looked to be a human figure starting to collapse in the middle of the road.

"HOLY SH-" he exclaimed, as he released the gas and swerved out of the way, nearly slamming into a streetlight as he did so. Thankfully, it was merely a light tap.

However, he was not concerned with that at all right now. Instead, he grabbed a flashlight out of the glove compartment, immediately got out the vehicle, into the pouring rain, and ran towards where he swore he'd seen the figure.

".................." Ryker was silent for a moment, before sighing quietly.

"Maybe it's because of me." he said.

"Maybe it's this fate before me that I can clearly see." he went on.

"I don't know." he admitted.

"But if we ARE growing apart, it's not my intention, and if it's because of me, I apologize." he went on, before pausing for another moment, biting his lip.

"...and to say I love you back is an understatement." he admitted. "Before I met you, I was actively trying to find a way to end myself. I cared nothing for my own safety, and wished I could just disappear. But you came into my life, and I suddenly felt like my life was worth living, if for no other reason, then to keep you safe." he went on.

"But now... it seems you're becoming more and more self-reliant, and I feel myself swell with the pride that only a big brother can feel." he then said to him.

"Eke... no matter what happens to us... I do love you... and I cherish you... every time I wake up and find you still with me, I realize it anew. I've never stopped, but waking up to you always seems to remind me, and it makes the mornings worth it."

He just shrugged.

"I suppose." he then said.

Eke then felt the atmosphere around them suddenly change.

"Ugh, my head." Ryker muttered.

"That ALWAYS makes me loopy." he mumbled.

"Good to hear it." Ash replied.

"For now... we're done." he said.

"Feel free to leave, hang around and socialize, whatever you want." he told her.

"As a hunter here, you have full access to ALL facilities, at all times." he continued.

"If you want to explore, go ahead, just... yeah, feel free to do whatever."

"Well, as a newbie, it WILL look good if you're here on a daily basis." Ash replied.

"As a strategist, you'll mostly be coordinating other hunts and such." he went on. "However, with your gift, you'll most likely be sent on information-gathering hunts." he continued.

"Basically, if you wanna hang around in a 9-5 way, it'll look good on you, but you can set your own hours to be here." he continued.

"We do expect you to be contactable at ANY and ALL times, however." he then stressed.

Ash listened to her, and nodded.

"Sounds like it's working at intended." he told her.

"Oh, and here." he said, grabbing a chequebook, filling out one of the cheques, and handing it to her.

"Here." he said.

When Abby looked at it, she saw it was for roughly $1000 CAD.

"Standard signing bonus." he told her. "Instituted by the head honcho herself. We here at Candentus Lux look after each other, and realize a good Hunter is worth every penny."

He rose to his feet, and sighed.

"Well.... kind of?" he answered.

"See... because of this unique situation I'm in with him, we can technically come and go between realms as we please... but a good amount of time will need to be spent in the underworld." he said.

"....like I said, this is unique. It's more like a... symbiotic relationship, if done right." he went on.

"And I know about your godfather plans for him. I may be the demon lord, but I have my honour. This will NOT interfere with those plans." he then assured Eke.