Colin's posts

Leo sat down and looked over towards her.

"....5 minutes?" he asked.

"Lunet, that's an extra large." he told her.

"NO WAY you can eat one of those pizzas in 5 minutes." he continued.

"I'd bet ANYTHING on that."

"Got it." Leo replied, getting up and making his way to the door. He was gone for only about a minute, before he returned to where she was, and instantly, the aroma of pizza teased her nose.

"Oh, man." Leo mumbled, setting down what sounded like a decently heavy load.

"4 XL pizzas, 2 orders of bread sticks, a large hot dessert cookie, and two 2L sodas, one cola, one root beer." he listed off.

"Seems Ty REALLY knows how to order pizza." he laughed.

"Note says the top two are specifically for you, Lunet." he added.

"It's good to see the passion." Leo replied.

"Just keep moving forward. And all those other platitudes." he said.

The next hour and a half was spent engaging in small talk about this and that, when they heard the doorbell to her home ring.

"...must be the food." Leo commented looking over.

"You want to get it, or shall I?" he asked.

"As long as you're doing your best." Leo said.

"But English and tech-related things you get A's in, huh?" he asked.

"Well, if you also enjoy doing it, which I assume you do, then there's some guidance for your future." he told her. "And yes, I mean that, despite the challenges you face." he clarified.

"Seriously, I think you have a heck of a bright future, Lunet." he told her.

"And you have people that'll help every step of the way."

Leo sighed again.

"That is the sad truth." he said.

"A lot of people don't recognise abuse until... well... they experience NON-abuse." he commented.

"At least you're out of there now." he then said.

"That's what matters." he reasoned.

"Oh, so how's your education going?" he asked. "You doin' all right in that?"

"Hmmm, I see." Leo mumbled.

"That could be a big factor, yes. Highly probable." he commented.

'But teenagers with high mana concentration go through a much more noticeable "bottomless pit" phase than others...' he then thought.

"At least you're making up for lost time." he chuckled.

"Seriously. Seems like you have it pretty decent here."

Ty laughed on the other end.

"Relax, I know how to accommodate for your appetite." he told her.

"Anyway, I'll see you when I get home in another couple hours." he finished.

With that, they ended the call, and Leo sighed quietly.

"So. You have an appetite, do you?" he asked with a chuckle.

"No." Leo replied.

"Not really." he said.

"Cool." Lunet said in response, before going back to the phone.

"Yeah, pizza and breadsticks." she confirmed.

"Done deal." Ty said.

"I'll pay in advance, so if it arrives before me, just take it and dig in."

"Pizza's the go-to." Ty responded.

"So unless you're craving something, I'mma go ahead and order that." he told her.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Pizza work for you?" he asked her.

"Or you want something else? If so, what?"

"Hm." Leo mumbled.

"Well, I suppose-" he started to say, before Lunet's phone went off.

She answered it, and it was Ty.

"Hey." he said when she answered.

"You want me to order something in for dinner?" he asked. "I'll have it arrive about the time I get home."

Again, Leo wanted to say something.

But he KNEW he should wait until confirmation.

"...yeah..." he muttered.

"Anyway, thanks for letting me chew your ear and such." he went on.

"I'll hang around until your Dad gets back." he told her.

"If nothing else, for HIS peace of mind."

Leo was silent for a moment, thinking about it.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"I don't know." he said. "Which is to say, nothing is coming to mind." he clarified.

"When this game makes it big and puts its mark on the gaming world, ring me up when you need beta testers?" he chuckled.

"It'd be a dream to test early builds and updates and such."

"PROPER dev studios don't do this." Leo replied.

"At least, reputable ones don't." he clarified.

"This just reeks of a company wanting to get their hands on the IP, so the can crank out sequel after sequel and ride out the good faith of the players, based on how good this one is." he told her.

"Like a monkey on an orange, squeeze out all the juice from it." he growled.

"And I hate it."

"Cool." Leo said.

"And we'll go from there." he went on.

"To be fair, even if you don't seem to have passive mana, there's a good chance I can make what I'm thinking work. Maybe." he said. "The mana part I think I have down." he clarified.

"But the concept itself is... well... it could be seen as being close to mad science..." he admitted.

"I digress. Let me know what the tests say, let me know about prolonged impressions on the laptop and tablet, and I'LL get this attempted robbery of a contract sorted RIGHT out."