Colin's posts

"......hm." Sharp mumbled.

"Indeed." he said.

He then handed her a bottle of soda pop, and sighed as he shut the door to the small fridge.

"Now." he muttered.

"How about a little more backstory, all right?" he asked.

"Perhaps... well, let's start with why you are the way you are." he then said. "If you know, that is."

Sharp had no visible reaction to Peyton's face reveal, but he DID look at her ears.

"Yep. Fennec." he said.

"Would you care for something to drink?" he asked her.

When Peyton nodded, he opened a small fridge that was behind his desk, but suddenly stopped.

"Wait..." he said.

"Just how old ARE you?" he asked.

Sharp nodded in response.

"Jake?" he then said.

"Of course." Jake replied, pressing a button.

"In ya go." he said.

Sharp nodded in response, and he and Peyton made their way through the doors.

"Don't worry about Jake." he told her after the doors had closed.

"He's a bit of an ass, but he wouldn't dare hurt you or anything like that." he assured the girl.

The man behind the newspaper chuckled, before lowering it slightly and looking at Peyton, the girl seeing his definitively reptilian eyes.

"I know." he said.

"Saw you looked like you were hiding many secrets, what you are one of them. Wanted to see if I could get you to correct." he told her, a smirk in his tone.

"Hey, boss." he then greeted Sharp.

"Jake." Sharp responded with another smirk.

"Someday that's gonna get you in trouble." he told him.

"Someday." Jake agreed, putting the paper down. "But not today." he chuckled.

Hal just smirked to himself as he noticed Peyton's unease.

"Heh." he chuckled under his breath.

"Don't be nervous." he told her, as they entered the security section, where Peyton saw someone sitting behind a deck, their upper section hidden behind a newspaper.

As soon as she stepped in, however, her animal instincts told her there was another animalistic presence in the area... and potentially a dangerous one, too.

That was when she heard a few short 'sst' sounds, and the man behind the paper spoke.

"Fox." was all he said.

Hal just smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Peyton." he said.

"And no. We'll talk later in my office." he told her.

The rest of the drive was in relative silence, with some small talk and minor conversation, before the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of what looked to be a very large and imposing office building.

"All right, we're here." he announced.

"Come on, let's get inside." he said, turning off the car.

"...." Hal was silent for a moment, and then sighed.

"I see." he said.

"You intrigue me with that statement, but we'll talk more on it later." he told her.

"Let's go with a simpler question." he said.

"How about your name?"

"I'll bet you do." Sharp replied, as they reached the car. He stepped inside and unlocked the front passenger-side door for her. When she got in and put her seatbelt on, he started the vehicle up.

"All right then." he said, pulling out of the parking lot.

"It's clear that you DO need a place." he went on.

"But do you have nowhere else?" he asked her.

"Not even your parents?"

Ryker didn't sleep. He just continued to lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.

As he laid back, he wondered if they would ever encounter his mother.

Was this elder dragon actually looking for Eke?

Would they encounter more dragons in the future?

What was going on with his curse? Why did it feel differently, all of a sudden? It seemed like whenever Eke revealed more information about his mother, the presence inside the shard seemed to grow... angrier?

"....it does." Sharp replied.

"I'm parked over there." he told her, gesturing to his car.

"Come on." he said.

"I'll take you to the Unit, and we can discuss this further." he offered, as he started to turn in the direction of it.

"We'd better hurry." he then went on. "Forecast said there'd be rain today."

"I know." Ryker replied.

"I'll get you used to it." he told him.

He then held onto Eke with the hand that the younger male had grasped, and sighed quietly.

'I'll try, anyway.' he then thought.

With that, he stared at the ceiling, and closed his own eyes, wondering about his future... how much of it there might be.

Sharp was silent as the girl spoke, saying what she did, in the manner she did, and in the way she did.

'...this child... sounds like barely EVEN a child...' he thought to himself.

"You could, could you?" he then asked.

"May I ask why?" he asked her.

"Why do you need such a haven? Such a safe place?" he asked further. "Not that I do not believe you, or doubt you, but I wish to know who I am dealing with before I make such a commitment, or give a straight answer." he told her.

"Also, to be honest, I have a few MORE questions for you." he then admitted. "...but those can wait until later." he assured the girl.

"Let's stick to what I've already asked."

Ryker smirked as Eke stated that laying closer to Ryker was better.

"I'm not." he said.

"Seriously. I'm not." he assured him.

"I've been travelling alone for a lot of my life." he told him. "Anyone willing to stick with me is the furthest thing from a burden." he said further.

"And it's not like I have some end goal destination, so you needing to rest a lot is... well... nothing for me. It's not keeping me for anywhere I need to be." he shrugged.

Sharp nodded as well, before taking his garbage to a nearby trash receptacle. Once he'd done that, the two of them made their way outside the mall, and started walking along the edge of the parking lot.

They were still in broad daylight, easy to see, but hardly anyone was around.

"All right." Sharp said.

"What do you know of my Unit?" he asked her.

"And why do you ask about it?" he asked further.