Colin's posts

"....really?" Ashley asked. "A bed?" he asked her.

"That'd be really great." he told her.

"I usually just slept on... like a pile of straw and cloth and stuff." he said.

"It was a lot comfier than sleeping on the floor." he reasoned, thinking about it.

"But... where's the bed?" he asked.

"I mean, if you don't have one, I can make do." he then assured her.

Ashley just blushed a little.

"Heh, thanks." he replied.

"And a place to sleep?" he asked.

"That'd be really nice." he told her.

With that, they made their way back inside, and when they stepped inside, they saw that Uriel had been busy unpacking everything that Aimee had, and was making sure various things were put away.

And he was almost done as well.

Ashley seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Oh... oh, you heard that." he said.

"I... well... that's good about the bird." he told her.

"And... you don't think I'm weak?" he asked.

"What do my scars have to do with that?" he asked her further.

"Aren't scars a sign of weakness?"

Ashley was silent for a moment, and sighed.

"Inside, please." he said.

"I've had enough of outside for a while." he told her.

"And that bird might come back." he went on, looking towards the top of the cliff.

"...I don't think I can fight it off." he admitted quietly.

"......I hate being weak." he then mumbled under his breath.

"Oh, hardly." Ryker said.

"I've just learned a lot over my life." he told him.

"I guess I'm just on the perceptive side sometimes." he went on.

He then smirked as Eke stuck his tongue out, and gently flicked his nose.

"Just enjoy yourself." he said, sitting beside him.

"Right now, it's all about satisfying your sweet tooth."

As she applied the various ointments and creams to him, she noticed that Ash winced a number of times... but overall, he was being very still and well-behaved.

"Yeah." he replied, meeting her gaze.

"Thank you." he said to her.

"You have a really nice, soft, and warm touch." he said further.

"I feel a lot better now."

Ashley promptly made his way over towards her, and sat down.

"All right." he said.

He then lifted his arms to let her do so, and she saw that he was in remarkable physical shape... especially for a child. He wasn't super muscular or anything, but she could see that his muscles were definitely toned and tight... however, she also saw countless scars of varying freshness, some standing out as having been incurred within the past few months, others so faded they had to have been years and years old.

"Use whatever you need to." he then said.

"I can resist a lot of pain from stinging liquids and stuff." he told her proudly.

"........" Ashley was silent for a moment.

"Huh." he muttered.

"I didn't know that." he said.

He then proceeded to quickly clean himself, but he managed to get all the dirt off of himself. He got himself all clean, before stepping out from the stream.

"All right, done." he told her.

"Do you need me to do anything special to help you tend to my wounds?" he asked.

"....I do?" Ashley asked, taking the cloth and soap.

"Really?" he asked further.

"It never seemed to be good enough for Mistress." he said. "No matter how long I was underwater, whenever I came back up for air, she would scold me and push me back under." he went on.

"It wasn't fun, and it kinda hurt." he muttered.

"But that was good?" he then asked, his voice sounding like it was desperate for approval.

"Okay then." Ashley responded.

With that, he dunked his head under the water, and she saw him fumbling and messing about with it... and he was under the water for close to a full 4 minutes, before he surfaced again, gasping for air.

"HAAAAH!" he exhaled, before looking at Aimee.

"Oh, sorry." he apologized. "I forgot this wasn't an underwater drill." he admitted.

"But is my hair ok?" he then asked her.

Ashley promptly sat down where he was, and allowed Aimee to massage the shampoo into his scalp and hair.

As she did, he relaxed considerably and noticeably... and Aimee could see that this was probably a very rare occasion for Ashley.

"Wow." he said.

"This feels really really good." he told her.

"My head and hair feel a lot less heavy." he went on.

This, one one hand, didn't make sense due to wet hair being heavier than dry hair... but with the amount of dust and dirt that was coming off of his head, it made a depressing amount of sense.

Ashley nodded in response.

"Okay." he said.

He then stepped further out into the stream, before dunking below the surface. He was under there for a few seconds, before coming back up and looking at Aimee.

"All right." he told her.

"I'm ready." he said.

"Do whatever you need to do, and tell me whatever you need ME to do."

Ryker chuckled.

"If you can eat the whole thing, go ahead." he told Eke.

"It's YOUR birthday cake." he said. "You should be allowed to eat the entire thing." he reasoned.

"Oh yeah, managed to swipe THIS as well." he then said, grabbing an umbrella he had tied to his back. He opened it up and held it over them, it being large enough to shield them both from the rain that was starting to slip through the tree cover.

"So eat to your heart's content."

Without saying a word, Ashley undressed, stripping his clothing. He then turned towards the water, and started to walk into it, not even caring about the temperature.

He then paused for a moment, and looked back at her.

"You want my head above water, or below?" he asked.

"Just.... is this going to be breath-holding exercises or something, or do you want to be able to see me?"