Colin's posts

"Oh, good." Nate responded.

"So, what-" he started to ask, before she called over to Cain.

"Almost done!" Cain replied.

"Nother 5 minutes before it's all ready!" he added.

"...um... excuse me?" Nate then addressed her quietly.

"...Lunet!?" he then mildly exclaimed, causing her to look back over to him.

"Yes?" she asked.

"What was that about my working? What job? How do you know where I'll be working, that they can accept such a different thing about me?" he asked her.

"...oh..." Nate mumbled.

"I... well, I didn't mean to get you in troub-" he then started to say further, before pausing.

"Wait... this is from him?" he asked. "As in, specifically from him, to me?" he asked further.

"Essentially. Once he found out what was happening, he was fine with it, and told me to empty out his wallet of the money he had, use some to get myself dinner, and give the rest to you." Lunet explained.

"Oh... oh, wow..." Nate muttered.

"That's... that's really nice of him." he said.

"And... DID you get into trouble for the money for lunches and such...?" he then asked hesitantly, almost guiltily.

Nate was now... VERY confused.

He hadn't had a chance to say anything to her before she dashed off, and returned with the envelope.

"...eh?" he mumbled, accepting it. "Ok, what?" he asked.

"Where I'll be working? What?" he asked her.

"And what's this?" he asked further.

"Open it." she told him.

He then sighed and opened the envelope, looking inside... and his jaw almost dropped.

"I... this..." he stammered.

"Okay, I know you've been good to me with money and such, but this seems a bit... well, isn't this excessive?" he asked her. "I mean, you say your finances are good, but... it's just been a little at a time. This has to be at least double what you usually give me every so often for funds." he commented.

"I... I see." Nate responded, sounding a little on the overwhelmed side, to put it lightly.

"Wait..." he then mumbled.

"Perfect?" he then asked.

"Oh, because of what I'm school for?" he then asked her.

"Yeah. Yeah, I figured it could really help." he agreed.

"Just need to get through it first, and try and keep my ability under wraps in my job." he told her further.

"Can't imagine most folks would take kindly to hearing me say that. They'd probably think me insane." he lamented.

"Uh..." Nate stammered.

"No." he said. "No, I have not heard of that." he told her. "Well, not for a while, and not in any real-world sense." he then clarified.

"Last I recall hearing that term... applied to a person, anyway, was some old comic from decades and decades ago. Old and forgotten, found it in yard sale, too damaged to be worth anything, but still readable." he went on.

"And... yeah, the character in that comic could do that, too." he mumbled.

"That's... that's real?" he asked.

"Regenerators are... actually a thing???" he then asked further.

True to form, at first, Nate got hung up on her comment about her and Cain's private time. And his face turned a deep red for a brief moment, before he shook his head vigorously to calm himself down.

"...dead?" he asked, referring to Cain.

"I mean... well, that makes sense, and yet, it doesn't make sense at ALL." he told her. "It makes sense in that his lack of a life force... or life aura... or whatever it is I can see... is understandable now." he explained.

"But... but he's dead. Yet he's still walking around. That DOESN'T make sense." he continued.

"And you can't die and stay dead?" he asked, looking at her.

"I mean... well, your life force IS a tad different that the average person's." he admitted. "It seems... well... the best way I can describe it, is that it's like a fire around you... but it seems like one that just refuses to be snuffed out."

Immediately she saw the panic in his eyes.

Immediately. It was there in a flash, but after about a few seconds, it was gone.

And he sighed. Heavily.

"I..." he stammered.

"I can see a person's... well... I guess... life force?" he said to her. "I mean, every person has a life. They have life. They live. And whether or not they're young, old, healthy, sick, I can see that. As... well... I guess... a weird aura around them." he tried to explain.

"It's like I can see when someone has something wrong with them... even if THEY don't know." he continued.

"That's why I went into medicine. I wanted to try and put this... whatever it is I have... to good use." he told her. "Maybe try and make my being a... well, for the longest time, I assumed I was a freak... anyway, put that to good use."

Nate jumped slightly when she tapped his shoulder.

"Ah!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, uh, nothing, nothing." he insisted.

"Just... got a lot on my mind." he told her, forcing a light laugh.

"Various things, just.... need to organise them, is all." he went on, before pausing.

"Wait..." he mumbled.

"Was I muttering out loud again...?" he asked her.

"...you could always ask about his mutterings." Cain replied.

"Seems like the sort that spills the beans when a little pressure is applied." he shrugged.

"But it depends on how badly you want to potentially scare him." he continued.

"I can totally approach him and reveal myself, but... he sounds inexperienced in the ways of this world." he went on.

"So that might cause him to freeze up, or run, or whatever." he reasoned.

"But he knows you. Maybe, as a friend, you can coax it out of it."

".......hm." Cain mumbled.

"Might explain it." he said.

"Explain WHAT?" Lunet asked.

"When he first saw me, he looked like he'd seen a ghost." Cain responded. "Which... makes sense, if he can see that I'm not alive." he went on.

"But... what now?" he asked her.

"What do you do with this suspicion and this evidence?"

Cain just smirked when she kissed him.

"Heh, no worries." he replied.

"You know the list of things I wouldn't do for ya is pretty short." he chuckled.

"....." Nate was silent, before shaking his head again.

He continued to glance at Cain a few times, and Lunet swore she heard him muttering something here and there, but when questioned, he said it was nothing, or he wasn't saying anything.

After a bit, she slipped inside to get some ice, and while Cain was finishing up grilling, she came back out, and Nate was engrossed in his mutterings... and this time, she got close enough to hear them.

"...not possible... no life signals... no... no, the aura's there... is it...?... but... no life...?... how is he...?"

Nate just laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I'll do that." he told her.

"Should be fine there, anyway." he reasoned, as the two of them made their way outside.

Once there, they saw Cain getting things ready, and Nate looked at the food that had been brought.

"Woah." he muttered.

"Looks like some serious quality stuff." he commented.

"Sure knows how to go all-out, doesn't he?" he then asked Lunet.

"No, no!" Nate insisted.

"No, he didn't." he said.

"Heck, he didn't have the time to, even if he was planning to." he told her. "...well, if he was planning to do something right there and then..." he then went on, before shaking his head.

"Right, I'm rambling." he realised.

"Come on." he told her. "Let's get outside." he said further.

"And I'm fine." he then assured her.

"Guess I just... studied too hard earlier. Fried my brain."

"Yes, seems so..." Cain mumbled.

"Yeah." Nate confirmed.

"Anyway, I'm headed outside." Cain then said. "Gonna start getting things all ready and start cooking." he went on.

"See ya both soon." he finished, before leaving.

Nate watched him go, not moving for a few moments, before slowly rising to his feet.

"Let's... let's get out there." he told Lunet, shaking his head slightly.

"Probably good to not keep him waiting." he added with a small laugh.