Colin's posts

Zeke's jaw dropped when he heard all that.

"Oh my God..." he exclaimed.

"Well, it seems you're more than all right now, yeah?" he asked.

"Raphael and the Anima Alder worked miracles." Sariel responded with a light laugh.

"But an outside source..." Zeke mumbled. "Hmmm..." he muttered further.

"And you're worried it might spread to here or something like that? Or be more large-scale than it seems?"

Zeke looked at her, almost stunned for a moment, before shaking his head.

"Conference room. Near here. Let's go." he managed to get out.

The two then left the R&D department, with Zeke saying he'd be right back, and the two found the empty room and went inside, where he switched the indicator to show it was in use.

He then turned towards Sariel.

"...what's going on?" he asked.

"What's brought you here?"

Zeke looked over towards where he'd heard the knocking, and saw Sariel there. He started to race towards her, but skidded to a halt when Ilias stepped between them. He said something sternly to Zeke, before making his way over towards where Sariel was, looking her over. He then opened the door, as several of his snakes rose up from beneath his hair.

"Ah, so YOU must be the one Zeke's been in a tizzy about." he commented.

"Please, come in." he told her, stepping out of the way.

"If nothing else, to calm HIM down." he continued, looking sharply at Zeke.

"...and remember, you are NOT of the R&D department, you do NOT have the authority to let people in here." he reminded him.

"Right." Zeke responded sheepishly.

Hal watched as she left the office, and noticed that, when she opened the door, Zeke was not there. Meaning he was probably still in R&D, and was most likely driving them insane. Somewhat.

He shook his head, and sighed quietly.

"Odds are I'll be getting a call from them in the very near future." he mumbled.

Meanwhile, down in R&D, Zeke was pacing as best he could, and constantly looking in the general direction of Hal's office.

"Why is one of them here?" he asked. "Why is it HER?" he wondered further.

"Is there a problem? How bad IS it?"

Hal shook his head.

"I cannot tell you that you are wrong, because you are not." he stated.

"And there is nothing else I can think of to ask or say before you take your leave." he told her.

"So go and meet your nephew, and/or save R&D from their new headache." he added with a small laugh, before he got up from his desk and walked around to the front of it, where Sariel was.

"Again, have your insurance contact me for repairs on the building and such." he reminded her.

"I will cover ALL monetary costs incurred from this incident."

Hal was silent, as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, he SHOULD be down by R&D currently." he told her.

"But, depending on his sense of priorities, there's a strong chance he's actually waiting outside that door for you." he then stated, his eyes narrowing slightly. In the past, Zeke had done this... several times. So this was not a far-out prediction.

But Hal then softened his look a little.

"He's actually getting better with that, though." he admitted.

"So I'd say we have a 50/50 chance he'll be there when you open the door."

Hal nodded in response.

"Duly noted." he said.

"I promise you will know as soon as I know anything." he told her. "Or as soon as possible, anyway." he clarified. He then paused again, thinking about it, before sighing quietly.

"Do you wish to tell Zeke this directly?" he asked.

"He should be in the building right now, and I'm willing to bet he knows you're here." he commented.

"Or do you not want to stick around here any longer than necessary?"

"Hmmm..." Hal mumbled.

"I see." he said. "Yes, I can understand your concern, and wanting to know what's caused this." he admitted.

"Well, I'll say it right now, I've not been feeling like your stereotypical djinn." he told her. "And I've not noticed any of my staff acting that way, either." he assured her further.

"However, I'll know to be on the lookout for such things." he continued.

"Also, I assume you will be all right?" he then asked, minor concern to his tone now.

Hal paused again, and shook his head.

"No." he replied. "He's not." he told her.

"Otherwise I wouldn't have referred him to you." he stated. "He and I have been friends for a bit now, and he's been nothing but kind and pacifist, with his only goal being to help animals." he went on.

That's when what she was driving to hit him.

"...so you're suggesting there was an outside influence?" he asked.

"Something had made him act this way, out of his norm?"

Hal leaned on his desk and buried his eyes in his hands.

"Uuuuugh." he let out, in a drawn-out groan. "This is embarrassing." he said. "I recommended him to you, and he has to go and do THIS." he growled, clearly unimpressed.

"And for the record, I would be a LOT more angry if he'd killed someone, or actually managed to permanently injure you." he quickly clarified to her. "Just so you know." he stated.

"Well, all that's left is to properly subdue him, make sure your insurance is referred to ME, so I can pay for the damages, and state that I will do anything to help recuperate your losses." he told her.

"Because he's going to face the Triad for this, and they do NOT take kindly to lycans acting like this."

"I beg your pardon?" Hal asked. "Charlie actually ATTACKED you!?" he exclaimed.

"I'm afraid so." Sariel responded.

Hal leaned back in his chair, a look of utter disbelief in his eyes as he heard that. He stared off into space for a few seconds, before looking back to her and leaning forward a little.

"Well, I take full responsibility for his actions." he told her. "I will compensate and reimburse you for any damages you have sustained in this." he assured her further, shaking his head.

"What happened to him after the attack?" he asked.

"And how badly did he hurt you, or others, or damage his surroundings?" he inquired further.

Hal was silent for a moment, raising an eyebrow.

"Firstly, it shouldn't surprise me that her father would have notes about that." he said. "Should have thought about that earlier." he muttered. "I'll need to get Azazel or Cain to sift through them, if they aren't already." he reasoned.

"And secondly, how I am... in relation to what I am?" he then asked. "What an odd thing to ask out of nowhere..." he muttered.

"But I feel fine." he said. "I haven't felt any... hatred for humanity, haven't felt the need to spitefully make people realise the devil is in the details, and that sort of thing." he told her.

"Why...?" he then inquired.

"The fact that you feel the need to ask, and clarify that it IS relevant concerns me greatly." he admitted.

"..." Hal was silent as she asked that, before groaning.

"Right. Well, it's been a nightmare to finally get this place running at full steam again, but I've managed it. We've all managed it." he told her. "I still need to find a way to get Aedan and Jordan back to who they once were, but this place is back to full capacity again." he said.

"Since then, I've been swamped with some paperwork that got backed up, but I've organised it, I'm making my way through it, I have a plan, I have a roadmap, and things are fine." he continued.

"I'm just glad that things are back to SOME semblance of normalcy here." he then said.

"...however, I get the sense that that might be turned on it's side once again." he muttered. "Good thing I've not been stressed out, actually, come to think of it." he realised.

"Anyway... what's going on?" he asked her.

"I'll try!" Azazel called back, as he felt a little flutter in his chest.

His halo fragment glowed slightly in his repaired horn, as ancient memories came flooding back. Memories of when he was an angel. Foggy memories of brief interactions with her, positive feelings associated with them, and feelings of unrequited love started to bubble up within him.

He then shook his head, however, and lightly slapped his cheek.

"No, Azazel. No, damn it." he murmured to himself under his breath.

"Your past is history. It's done. It's a life you can never go back to." he told himself further. "Concentrate on your present, and your future. Your damn wife and child." he then hissed.

With that, he just sighed quietly, and continued on to where he had been headed.

Meanwhile, the rest of Sariel's journey went uninterrupted, and when she arrived at Arryn's receptionist area, she saw the door to Hal's office was already open, and Hal was already leaning against the doorframe.

"Easier this way." he told her. "Come in." he said, turning and heading into the office.