Colin's posts

She was only waiting for 2 minutes, before Jake showed up.

"Right." he said.

"Let's go." he told her.

"How we getting there?" he asked.

"Am I driving, we catching a cab, what?" he asked further.

"Because I am ready to go RIGHT NOW." he said.

And she could hear it in his tone. He was prepared to do anything to make sure his friend, Miki, was all right.

"Ohhhh, no." Jake said.

"Breaking and entering her house is-" he started to say further, before pausing and sighing heavily.

"...yes." he muttered. "Yes, I'm coming with you." he told her.

"I'm too worried about Miki to care about the legality and morality of this." he admitted.

"...just let me get someone here to cover for me." he then said.

"Shouldn't take more than a minute."

Jake jumped a little when the newcomer made her presence known, and asked her questions. He looked to her, before sighing and shaking his head.

"No, nothing like that." he said. "Things with Anya are great. Better than ever, actually." he told her.

"It's... well, it's Miki." he revealed.

"I've been meeting with her every other day or so, just to make sure she's doing all right and such. Keep her spirits up, and assure her we'll get Ty back." he explained to her.

"...but I haven't met with her for 3 days." he then said. "2 days later than planned." he continued.

".....and she's not answering her phone, or the door, or anything."

Gabe just nodded again.

"Very well." he said.

He then got closer to her, and placed his hands on her shoulders once more, getting ready to help her relax, and as soon as she fell asleep, he would set to work. And he WOULD succeed.

He vowed it to her, to Ebony... to himself.

---

Jake sat at his desk, looking at his cell phone concernedly. He looked to the clock on the wall, before looking at his phone again.

He sighed quietly, and set the phone down on the desk, looking absently at the newspaper on the desk as well.

"..." he was silent, and pondered reading it, before shaking his head and leaning back in his chair, more slumping into it.

Gabe nodded.

"Of course." he replied, quickly exiting the room.

He was only gone for about 4 minutes, before he returned, setting her wallet down on the nightstand that was near her bed.

"Yes, it was." he confirmed.

"I put it on your kitchen counter for now." he told her.

"...unless you are feeling particularly hungry, and would rather eat before bed." he then said.

"If not... well, I'll get started on helping you."

Gabe narrowed his eyes at the arm, and nodded.

"Fair." he said.

Already, he was planning on how to deal with it. He would need her to fall asleep first, and would work with her subconscious to keep that mana at bay.

He remembered this with Ebony.

He'd succeeded before, he'd do it again.

"Anyway." he then mumbled.

"I can see it's pretty bad, but I promise that, by the time you awaken, it will be far more manageable."

"Very well." Gabe replied.

"Then get comfortable, as though you're getting ready to sleep." he told her.

"...and yes, I know someone saying that they can handle the curse in your arm is strange to hear, and you don't want to believe it, but... I can. Trust me, I can." he assured her.

"Your demon friend can handle it just like I can. But... for different reasons. We're on equal ground, but in different ways, for different reasons, but we both end up at the same destination." he explained.

"To summarise, please... put your faith in me." he told her.

"I promise you it won't be misplaced." he continued.

"If you can just ignore any misgivings or concerns for a few moments, I will show you just how I can help you even more than back at the Unit."

Gabriel paused for a split-second, as several answers flashed through his mind... many of which would be highly inappropriate to mention here. So he quickly shoved them away and cleared his throat.

"Just lay down in a position you're comfortable in." he told her.

"On your back, your side, lean against me if you like." he went on.

"Just... make sure you're in a position to comfortably sleep." he restated.

"Command me to move about as you wish." he then chuckled lightly.

Gabriel nodded once more and followed her upstairs, towards her bedroom. He sighed when she made her last statement, as they entered the bedroom, and he saw the bed showed telltale signs of restless nights.

He hated seeing something like that with those like Erica.

"...." he then paused for a moment, an idea bubbling in his mind, before making a mental note for himself. He stepped forward again, as they both got into the bed.

"All right..." he said.

"I realise the thought of going to sleep probably scares you. A lot." he told her.

"But I promise... this will be good."

"I'll greet them and pay them when they arrive." Gabe told her as she finished putting what needed to be washed into the sink, and the still-whole fruits back into the fridge.

Once that was done, they started to leave the kitchen, with Erica grabbing the wallet and handing it to Gabe after.

"...you might not know on a conscious level." he said.

"But maybe your SUBconscious knows you need help." he postulated. "Or knows that I can take whatever your curse may lash out with." he suggested further.

"Regardless, you did let me in, and for that, I will help you." he then said further.

"Now... pick a place where you would be comfortable." he went on.

"Anywhere you feel would be comfortable for you to potentially fall asleep. I will follow."

Gabriel just smiled a little as she said what she did.

He grabbed one of the slices of kiwi and gulped it down, before nodding.

"Of course." he responded.

"I'll eat what's been cut so it won't go bad." he told her. "Let you put away anything you need to." he continued.

"Also, I'm all for getting out of the kitchen, but I DO have one more thing to mention." he then said further.

"From what I heard earlier, you are waiting for someone to deliver something." he commented. "Do you know when they're coming?" he asked. "And if so, do you want ME to be the one to receive them?" he asked further.

"Because I'm more than happy to do so."

Gabriel didn't say anything more, and stepped up behind her, making sure his steps were audible, so he didn't accidentally surprise her or scare her. He was close, before gently placing his hands on her shoulders. Once they were there, he started to gently rub them, giving them a small massage... but in truth, he was starting to gently seep a very small amount of his mana into her.

He was also doing it with the massage motion, as to help her relax and calm down a little. He could feel the tension in her, to say the least.

"I will." he told her.

"So just relax." he said.

"I can tell you're very stressed, and you don't need to continue cutting these fruits." he went on. "Don't concentrate on anything right now. Just let go of the knife and relax... fall back into me if you feel like it." he went on.

"Can you do that, Erica?" he asked.

"....equal parts for all." Gabriel responded.

"Anyway, I... I think I can help you." he told her.

"If you'll allow me to." he went on.

"You shouldn't be suffering as you are." he then said. "It's not right." he lamented.

"But I can help alleviate you of these horrible nights." he told her further.

"Will you allow me to try and help?"

Gabriel followed her, shaking his head a little.

"Nobody 'put me up to this'." he told her.

"Ebony DID mention that she was quite concerned for you." he the admitted with a small sigh.

"But please don't blame her for anything." he continued.

"I'm here because... well... I am concerned for you." he said further.

"I've heard that you're suffering."