Colin's posts

She saw Jaden wince and twitch noticeably, before he cleared his throat.

"...baby steps." he said.

"I will try not to interfere with your life." he told her.

"You are an adult and can make your own decisions." he said further, before heading off.

She could see it, he was really trying.

He had to SERIOUSLY hold back those papa-bear instincts. But he'd managed to. This time, anyway.

Again, Jaden was silent, before turning around and hugging her, holding her close.

"I love you, sweetie." he said.

"I guess I just always felt the need to try and prove it." he admitted.

"I'm sorry." he apologised again.

"If you want to be friends with Sebastien, then I won't stand in your way." he told her. "After all, it's really none of my business to stand in the way of who you choose to socialise with now." he reasoned.

Jaden just looked at her and smiled sadly.

"Seems you're not my baby girl, any longer." he told her.

"You're 18 now. An adult." he said.

"...went by so fast, I... guess I just didn't see it coming." he then admitted.

"I'm sorry." he apologised again.

"I guess... I just wanted to try and make up for not being there as much for you when you were younger." he said further, referring to how Sydney would babysit her a lot in the past.

Again, Jaden was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry." he apologised.

"It seems I was wrong about Sebastien." he told her.

"And now I wonder what else I've been wrong about, and for how long." he continued.

"...and how it seems I've missed the fact that you're an adult now. You've grown up." he went on.

"You don't need me trying to protect you. Odds are you haven't for a long time, now..."

"All righty then." Bast responded with a smile.

---

She was met with silence at first, before Jaden approached her.

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

"Probably just burgers and fries will do." he told her.

"Nothing fancy." he finished.

"............." he was then silent for another short period of time, before turning to walk away.

Bast looked at Desiree, before shrugging.

"Sure." he said.

"I'll help." he told her.

"Whatcha need?" he then asked, as he looked around, taking in the scenery.

"This is a lovely piece of property you have here." he complimented her.

"Looks like a wonderful place to live."

Bast nodded in response.

"I am." he told her, before looking at Jordan.

"Nope. You never did." he confirmed.

"And it's not something that was really just relevant to any conversations we were having so... it was just never said." he shrugged, turning his attention back towards Desiree.

"I'm studying psychology." he answered her.

"I am to be a therapist in my future."

Sebastien was silent for a moment, narrowing his eyes at Desiree... until something in his head clicked into place, and very vague memories of a much younger time entered his mind.

"...oh!" he exclaimed.

"Mrs. Sherwood!" he remembered. "I... yes, I have some very vague recollections of you when I was quite young." he told her.

"Hello." he greeted her in response.

"I've been doing all right." he said. "Managed to make it to adulthood, as you can see." he chuckled. "Striking it out there on my own and all." he went on with a small smile.

"How've YOU been?" he asked.

Jaden watched her go, and sighed to himself.

"...you did." he said quietly.

"And I didn't listen." he said further, before pausing. "....how long have I not been listening...?" he then wondered aloud.

Meanwhile, Bast just shook his head as they stepped outside.

"Nah." he said. "It's cool." he assured her.

"And it's good, in a way, that he's overprotective." he told her. "Yes, I can see how it would be aggravating to a large degree at times, but at least he means well." he reasoned. "At least, I assume he means well." he then added.

"Hopefully he'll ease up soon enough, though." he went on.

"You're practically an adult now, yeah?" he asked.

"Duly noted." Bast responded.

"Feel free to... watch TV or whatever." Jaden told him.

"You have free reign of the house, essentially." he said.

"Cool." Bast replied with a small thumbs-up.

"I'm going to take a look outside." he then told him. "See what the property and land is like. Scenery." he went on.

"You do that, then." Jaden told him.

"Back door's over that way." he finished, gesturing in the direction of it, to which Bast started to head in said direction.

Bast shook his head.

"Nope." he said.

"And yeah, no seafood. I remember that from when we first met." he told her.

"You do?" Jaden asked.

"For sure." Bast replied. "She was a guest in my home. Well... mine and Darryl's. It's pretty much my moral obligation to know these sorts of things." he reasoned, before pausing.

"...as odd as it is for a demon to speak of 'moral obligation'..." he then admitted.

Bast just shrugged.

"What can I say?" he asked.

"Guess I'm a rebel like that." he said with a laugh.

"We demons are attracted to those in religion, after all. Take them away from the grace of God!" he went on, in an overly dramatic evil and ominous tone... but it still would sent shivers down the spine.

"...yep." Jaden muttered.

"You're Lilim's kid, all right." he said.

"Ah!" Jaden exclaimed.

"N-no! No, that's perfectly all right." he said.

"...your mother is friends with Lex, anyway, come to think of it. I'm sure I'll be talking to him at some point in the future." he sighed.

"I wouldn't worry about it." Bast told him.

"Dad's a chill guy, understands that demons aren't well-liked on the surface, and for good reason." he said further.

"And Mom would wonder what I was doing wrong if people didn't distrust me immediately." he then laughed, which seemed to settle Jaden down a little.

Jaden was awkwardly silent as he heard that, before letting go of Bast's hand.

"I... ah..." he stammered.

"To put your mind at ease... or perhaps worsen it, I have no idea... I DO have control of that aspect." Bast told him. "And while, yes, I HAVE actively used it in the past, it's been more to mete out vigilante justice." he summairsed.

"The details aren't very nice, admittedly." he then said.

"No... no, it's fine..." Jaden managed to get out.

"And mother is... well, yes, she's more likely to corrupt Jordan than I, but that's still not really a concern." Bast then assured him. "To be fair, she's minimally active in my life overall, due to what she is and her circumstances, but she knows not to really mess with the ones I call friends." he added.

"That's... well, that IS a relief..." Jaden admitted.

Jordan could still see it, though. He felt like absolute garbage for how he'd been acting and the mindset he'd had for the longest time. His guilt was now weighing down on him like that of the world itself.