Colin's posts

Jake just smiled, as a server approached them.

"You ready to order, or need more time?" he asked them.

"I'm ready." Jake responded.

"If you're ready, go on ahead." he told Anya.

"The service here is friendly and speedy, and the food's delicious." he said further.

"You flatter us because you're a regular, Jake." the server chuckled in response.

Ryker followed Eke inside, and what was inside was... a bit disturbing.

There were bones all over that decorated the place... small animal skeletons, portions of larger animal skeletons, as well as what were clearly human skulls.

And one dragon skull hanging from the ceiling.

The man was sitting at a table with various glassware and tubes connected, and he appeared to be still working on the black water.

"Ah." he said, looking at Eke.

"You have more vials of the water?" he asked.

"Give me another one."

Ryker just nodded as they stepped up to the shack.

"...right." he said.

He then lowered his head, and lifted it back up, his eyes black and red once more.

"So, then." he addressed Eke.

"You going in or staying out here?" he asked.

"Same as you." Jake replied.

"I'm bored and lonely." he said.

"And yes, I have to admit that those types of venues aren't the best for long-term commitments." he went on. "But it's the best I can get." he admitted.

"See... my existence is supposed to be hidden." he told her.

"Which is to say, only those considered paranoid or crazy actually 'believe' in me." he continued.

"So I have to be very careful about where I dip my toes, so to speak."

"Oh, plenty of questions." Jake replied.

"Some of them more... private than others." he went on with a smirk.

"But... let's start with some basics." he then suggested.

"Why do you frequent the chat rooms you do?" he asked.

"What are YOU looking to get out of them?"

"That's cool." Jake responded.

"It's on me." he said.

"And thankfully, this place serves all kinds of stuff at all times." he went on.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, get it here at any time of day." he chuckled.

"But yeah, nice to meet you, Anya." he reiterated.

"Haven't seen you around the chat rooms much." he then said.

"We are." Ryker responded as they approached the shack again.

"All right, I'm... going to 'sleep' again." he warned Eke.

"Just... be prepared, okay?" he sighed.

"Odds are it's not going to be pleasant." he lamented further.

"But, again, we need his input."

"....I see." Ryker responded.

"That's an intense experience." he said.

"But hey, you got away." he went on.

"And odds are it'll be laying low, depending on where you stabbed it." he continued.

"Still... a river monster..." he went on.

"Heard those are getting rarer and rarer to find."

'Huh. Not much of an accent.' Jake thought. 'That's surprising.' he thought further.

"Call me Jake." he then responded, figuring he'd leave out the warning about his real name for now.

"It's nice to meet you, Anya." he went on.

"Would you care for something to eat and/or drink?" he then offered, gesturing to the menus that were on the table.

"Feel free to get whatever you like."

Jake was absolutely stunned and taken aback by the woman before him.

She had an elegance and beauty that he'd never seen before. Sydney was beautiful, Vanessa had had a certain physical beauty to her, Allee had a subtle sultriness to her, but this woman was different.

She was absolutely gorgeous, and Jake felt himself instantly attracted to her. Especially her white hair, it looked good on her, and almost gave her an otherworldly elegance.

"Ah, hey." Jake responded as she approached him.

"I... assume you are NightmareFuel?" he asked her.

Ryker couldn't help but laugh earnestly at what Eke had to say.

"All right, all right, you make a good argument." he admitted.

"A cold really IS nothing compared to what you've dealt with already." he said.

"So I'll give ya that." he told him with a smile.

"So how'd you get away from that river monster, anyway?" he then asked.

".....hm." Ryker muttered.

"Kinda?" he responded.

"It's not so much that you're getting a cold, it's that yet another thing is happening to you." he said.

"You know what I mean? Sort of a 'haven't you had to deal with enough? Why THIS as well?' kinda thing." he clarified.

"If that makes sense." he then mumbled.

"Sometimes I'm not great as explaining how I feel."

Jake looked back at the chat window, and smirked as the entire place had erupted into arguments.

Later, snowflakes. was all he said before he logged out.

He then sighed, got up, and nodded to himself.

Over the course of the next 45 minutes, he'd washed up, changed into clean clothing, and made his way to the diner in question, where he sat in the booth he said he'd be in, and ordered himself a coffee to drink while he waited for the woman.

He then took out his phone, and sent her a text.

Waiting for you in the diner. And now you have MY number. it read.

Ryker sighed as Eke sneezed.

"According to the voice in my mind, should be fairly soon." he told him.

"So we should get moving." he said further.

As they started to walk, he sighed once more.

"Ugh." he muttered.

"You realize I'm going to have to let him speak to this dude, right?" he asked Eke.