Colin's posts

Ty then lifted up a smallish wrapped rectangle, and set it down by Hal.

"From me." he said.

"To both you AND Hollie." he said further, causing Hal to look a little confused.

"Well, then!" the djinn responded.

"Shall I open them NOW?" he asked with a smirk.

"You can open mine later tonight." Ty told him.

Hal accepted the package, and looked at it quizzically. He narrowed his eyes a little, and she could tell he was concentrating.

But to no avail.

"Well then." he said.

"Whatever this is, you're certainly going to great lengths to keep it a secret." he chuckled.

"But you didn't have to get me anything." he told her with a smile.

"We could say the same to you." Ty responded. "And hey, I got you something, too." he added.

Hal just rolled his eyes.

"You know as well as I do that I don't have that privilege." he reminded her.

"Sad, but comes with the territory of being the boss." Ty commented.

"Sadly." Hal agreed.

"That being said, I've come to be a bit of a Santa for you lot." he told then with a smirk.

"I come bearing gifts for you all!" he declared.

"In passing." Hal responded.

"More comments of 'I dunno when this game is going to end, but damn it, I WILL win it." he told her. "So for what it's worth, he doesn't seem like this is all about a deadline for him." he shrugged.

Time passed for all of them, though they were sure it was starting to seem like forever to Ty. However, it was Christmas holidays, and the Unit was getting ready to close up shop for said holidays. Liv and Lunet were in the daycare once more, with Angela and Ty there as well, talking with each other and sharing some tea, when they saw Hal walk into the area and make his way over.

"Hello-ho-ho!" he greeted the lot of them.

Hal smiled.

"Heh. Good." he chuckled.

"I'll tell Angela that." he told her.

"I will NOT tell Ty that, though." he then said.

"The true test of his character is his willingness to stick this out to an UNKNOWN deadline." he reasoned.

"But Christmas. A perfect finish line." he commented.

"He's almost fallen." Hal told her.

"A couple of times." he went on.

"One of the... spies... I have, watched him enter a liquor store, come out with a bottle, and started walking down the street with it." he continued. "However, he'd barely walked a minute before looking at the bottle, and then throwing it into a nearby alley. Hadn't even opened it. And the spy heard the telltale smash and crash." he went on.

"Even went and checked." he said.

"Bottle was smashed, liquid was everywhere. Ty bought it... but shortly tossed it. Not sure if it was symbolic or he was slipping, but whatever it was, he hasn't broken his chances yet."

"...well, that makes sense, then." Hal responded with a light laugh.

"From all I've heard, he has a natural talent for that sort of thing." he commented.

"Still. Holy hell, this incident." he muttered.

"Oh, for a bit of good news, Ty's still doing it." he then told her.

"Has not touched a DROP since the day this started." he continued.

Hal and Lindsay watched her go, before they exchanged some small talk, and Lindsay excused himself, going back to what he was doing, where he'd been doing it. Hal watched him go, and then turned to Hollie.

"By the way." he said.

"Why IS he here?" he asked.

"If you don't mind my asking." he said further.

"He doesn't seem like the type that would visit you."

Lindsay was silent for a moment, but returned the hug. He held it for as long as she did, promptly following her back into the house.

"I feel better already." he said.

"I just can't stand the thought of traumatising my loved ones." he told her.

"It's... not pleasant to think about..." he mumbled.

When they'd gotten back inside, they'd seen that Hal had carefully removed the Tyrant's Attire, and had placed 'Victor' in a special containment biohazard container. He had, essentially cleaned up the scene.

"Figured it would be best to get... it... ready for transport." he commented.

"I'm licensed to do so, so I did so."

Lindsay nodded.

"Yeah, sure." he said.

"I mean, that being said, I don't intend to just keep hanging out outside." he told her. "I can still be quite productive and shelf the rest of the... not-so-important stuff." he reasoned.

"And I'm sure you have some things to chat with to Agent Sharp." he went on.

"So I can head back in and keep working until it's ready." he offered.

Lindsay paused for another moment, and then nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense." he said.

"See if those that watch it are even bothered, and see what they think about it all." he muttered.

He then got up from the rock and got closer.

"Anyway, there's still organising to do." he said.

"We were making really good progress until... all THAT happened..." he continued.

"So if you want to put it off for later, I'm fine with that. Otherwise, I can continue if YOU can."

Lindsay blinked a couple of times, before suddenly laughing out loud.

"All right, that's more than fair!" he said, shaking his head a little. "Some of the ways I've gone down really HAVE been pretty bad, haven't they?" he asked rhetorically with a smaller chuckle.

"...but desensitised or not, I... might need to make a more concerted effort to shield myself when it happens." he continued. "Not everyone is desensitised to the same level, I would guess." he went on.

"Or, at the very least, maybe make it a common courtesy sort of thing." he added.

With that, he sighed heavily, and looked back at her.

"But you'll be all right after this incident?" he asked.

Lindsay snapped back to reality and looked at her.

"Oh, just... what you said." he mumbled.

"Do I REALLY look like that when I die?" he asked. "Like, seriously. Do I really turn that ghastly pale and horrifically wither away?" he asked further.

"...if so... what am I putting the people that see it through...?" he then wondered.

"Or was that a bit of... hyperbole?" he inquired.

"I admit, I've never actually SEEN myself die and/or come back to life, so... I don't know what it looks like, and I've never really thought about it." he admitted. "Until now." he continued.

"Is it really that harrowing to witness when it happens to ME?"

Hal nodded in response and made his way to a chair that was nearby, sitting in it.

"Well, things should be easier for Hollie, going forward..." he muttered.

"Not sure DEATH was something that needed to happen to Victor though." he then sighed.

Meanwhile, outside, Lindsay was sitting on a large rock that was off to the side of her place, absently staring.

At nothing in particular.

He was just... staring. Kind of blankly.