Colin's posts

Lindsay just chuckled.

"She has quite the good reputation because of her charity work." he said.

"And yes, everyone else in the house makes more than enough money." he went on.

"Wait..." Darrell said.

"Wait, hold on." he mumbled.

"He pays you?" he asked Casey.

"For what?"

"It's true." Evan replied.

"Mom's done high-profile commissions, yeah, but those are few and far between." he said further.

"Well, there IS a reason for that." Lindsay commented.

"Casey might not think her work is worth that much, but sometimes the economy, as well as the consumers, determine what anything is worth." he told Darrell. "Basically, if she were to accept high-profile orders, and have them not pay much, it could have a bit of a domino effect on the entire economy of fine art." he explained further.

"...I see..." Darrell replied.

"But don't people wonder why she doesn't do very many commissions for high-bidders?" he asked.

"It gets chalked up to 'artist's fickleness'." Ash interjected.

"Ie: she doesn't do it often because her muse is unpredictable." he summarised.

"Ohhhh." Darrell replied.

"Now it makes sense." he said.

"...yeah, a KC original would be worth a lot." he told her.

He then paused and started to think about it.

"...actually, I think, if the right collector bought it, you'd be set for University, and years beyond." he went on.

Lindsay just chuckled.

"Indeed, indeed." he confirmed.

Ash raised an eyebrow when he heard that.

"Lift it, huh?" he asked.

"...who?" he asked her.

"I just want to have a little... chat... with them." he went on.

"Uh-huh." Lindsay mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Casey then saw that Darrell looked VERY confused.

He had NO idea what they were talking about.

Darrell nodded.

"I've learned to heed warnings." he said.

"Warnings ware warnings for a reason." he mumbled.

Ash just chuckled.

"Yep." he said.

"And don't worry about keeping a schedule or anything." he continued.

"Everyone here has their own biological rhythm." he said further.

"Just do your own thing. Sleep when you want and all that."

Darrell was silent for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"I don't... know." he said.

"You don't know?" Lindsay asked.

"She got Mom's eye." Darrell responded.

"...and that's all we know, really." he shrugged.

"Indeed." Darrell replied.

"Mom and Dad told me about them." he said.

"They made sure I knew about what I would go through." he continued.

"And they were there to help me." he went on.

"I was driven to that extreme once or twice, though." he then said further.

"...not fun."

Before anyone could really say anything to her for that, Darrell shrugged.

"Used to." he said.

"But I got over it." he told her.

"It... wasn't nearly as simple as I just made it out to be, but it's the truth. I worked it out and now I mostly don't hate myself." he said further.

"Mostly?" Evan asked.

"I get the occasional little bout of self-hate or intense inner conflict." Darrell clarified.

Ash just laughed out loud, and Darrell sighed.

"It's my nose." he said.

"I... can smell mana." he told her.

"It's something I inherited from my father, and his father before him." he went on.

"Remember that mean we told you about?" Ash then asked Kelly. "Dom?" he went on.

"Darrell's his grandson. And the son of Jaden Sherwood." he finished.

"Hey." Darrell replied.

"Yeah, Darrell will be staying here for a while." Ash said.

"So get used to him." he chuckled.

Darrell was silent for a moment, before he started sniffing the air lightly.

He smelled a powerful mana, and it was right beside him.

He glanced over towards Kelly, before going back to his food.

However, Ash had noticed this, and smirked.

"Yep, she's pretty strong, Darrell." he said, causing the young man to flinch slightly.

Darrell shook his head.

"No, there's plenty of room." he said, scooting over.

"Hi." he then greeted her.

"I'm Darrell. Darrell Sherwood." he introduced himself.

"I'll be living here for a bit." he went on.

"Might as well get to know him." Ash told her.

"All right, all right." Ash said.

"Let's focus on the food!" he declared, as they were all seated at the table.

"Yeah!" Evan exclaimed.

And if one were paying attention, one would see that Darrell was getting surprised... again and again. Each surprise being better than the last. He'd never had so much food that was THIS good before.

"I assume we're saving a little bit of everything for Kelly?" Lindsay asked Ash.

"Except the eggs. They don't refrigerate well." Ash responded.

"Got it." Ash responded.

Darrell, meanwhile, was marvelling at the spread.

"...woah..." he mumbled.

It was at that point, Lindsay came into the room.

"Sorry." he apologised.

"Got caught up in something." he said.

"And my, my. You've outdone yourself, Ash." he told his brother.

"Heh." Ash chuckled in response.

Ash shook his head.

"Kitt, you're insufferable at times." he mumbled to the black cat.

"And she does have provisions." he then said to Casey.

"I made sure she had a day's worth of food before she left." he went on, grabbing a large stack of thick waffles, and one of fluffy pancakes. He brought them over to the table and set them down.

"Still more to come." he chuckled.

"She said she planned to be back at sunset." he then told Casey.

"So she'll be back at the last possible hour." he laughed, going back and grabbed a plate of various meats... sausages and bacon, mostly. He then grabbed a bowl of scrambled eggs and brought them both to the table.

"Want me to let you know when she does?" he asked, before going to grab the last things that were needed; syrup and the whipped cream he'd done up earlier.