Colin's posts

"Right." Ryker said in response.

He kicked off his own shoes and socks, as the two of them made their way to the edge of the water.

Ryker stepped in first, and Eke could see that the very shallow part of this was up just past his ankles.

"Come on." he said, extending a hand.

"You can take those first steps."

"Good." Ryker responded.

"Come on." he said.

The two of them then walked along the edge of the lake, eventually stopping after a couple of minutes.

"Hmmm." Ryker mumbled, grabbing a large stick.

He then plunged it into the water, and it stopped after a short time.

"This water is a little below your knees." he told Eke.

"We'll start here."

"I love the female form." Tobias replied.

"But I can't stand the fact that such a gorgeous creation rots away over time." he went on.

"It's an insult. And the women hate it as well." he told her.

"Why else would people complain about getting older, losing their looks, and spend small fortunes on things to reverse ageing?" he asked her.

"So... I preserve those that are at their peak, and are shining examples of their gender." he went on.

"Lilith offered me a deal to give me that power, and the time to do it."

Tobias just sighed.

"A shame." he said.

"I was starting to REALLY like you." he told her. "Though that was not genuine, it seems." he lamented. "Such a pity." he went on.

"But oh well." he shrugged.

"You will be a wonderful addition to my collection." he reasoned.

"For as treacherous and manipulative as you are, you are still a near-perfect female specimen." he complimented her.

"You may very well end up being the crowning gem of my gallery."

Azazel responded by slamming his fists down on the table.

"No!" he exclaimed.

"I refuse that!" he told her.

Meanwhile, back at Tobias's mansion, Roxie had suddenly found herself almost incapable of movement from her waist down... and her arms weren't reacting to what she was telling them to do, either.

And Tobias looked to be very pleased with it.

"Ahhh." he said.

"Just let it happen." he told her.

"I'll make sure your pose is tasteful." he promised her further.

"But why would that be happening?" Lex asked.

"...." Azazel was silent for a moment, before his eyes widened.

"I have to go!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"What!? Why!?" Lex asked.

"Roxie might be in danger!" Azazel replied, before looking at Lilim.

"Does the name 'Tobias Lockwood' mean anything to you?" he asked her.

Azazel just sighed again, taking a small drink of what she had given him.

"..." he was silent, before collecting his thoughts.

"Well..." he said.

"If... communicating is like swimming down an underwater tunnel... this was like... there was a net in the way." he told her.

"A painful, barbed net. And it tangled me for a moment, before violently throwing me back." he went on.

"And it seemed like it was designed specifically to cut off that pathway." he continued.

"...if that makes sense."

Azazel crossed his arms over his chest, and pondered the idea.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"That's... a good point." he said. "Hadn't thought of that." he admitted.

"Guess I'll try it now." he told her. "Mind if I sit?" he asked.

"Go ahead." Lex told him.

Azazel then sat down in one of the chairs, and closed his eyes, looking like he was meditating for a moment.

"...well, Anya's is crystal clear." he said, opening his eyes, and then closing them again.

"...and Miki's is as usual. Static-y, but it's still there." he said further, again, opening his eyes briefly.

"We've established that the one between you and I is fine." he commented to Lilim, before sighing.

"That leaves Roxie." he finished, closing his eyes once more... before promptly having an extremely violent shudder, almost as bad as a seizure, and grasping at his head, opening his eyes.

"AH!" he exclaimed.

"What!? What is it!?" Lex asked him, clearly concerned.

"That... that was painful." Azazel replied. "Oh yeah, something is interfering with my connection to Roxie."

Azazel took a moment to recover from the pain, before he brought his hand up to where the wound had been... finding it was not there any longer, and the stitching from earlier just sloughed off into his hand.

"...neat." he mumbled.

"Anyway, what problems is she causing?" he then asked.

"I... see, I don't know." he admitted.

"Lilim, earlier, I was doing that thing where I go into a brief catatonic state, kinda like sleep, but not." he told her. "I... I legit think I had a NIGHTMARE about your mother." he said.

"....wait, what?" Lex muttered, hearing that.

Ryker could sense that Eke was scared, and sighed internally.

"Come on." he said, taking a few steps back and taking Eke with him.

"It's not helpful if you're panicking." he told him.

"So the first thing we need to do is make sure you feel safe." he continued.

"Hanging around the deep end isn't going to help anything. So just take a few breaths and concentrate on the face that you're on dry land right now." he told him further.

Azazel just sighed deeply.

"Yep." he said.

"It was stupid of me to do so." he admitted.

"But... I kinda had my reasons..." he mumbled further.

"And while I don't like choas mana on me or in me... I will admit that having this healed would be a very desirable result." he then said to her.

"So... it'd be greatly appreciated it you could deal with this, yes."

The man showed up about 10 seconds later, looking at the woman.

"Oh? Cool." he said.

"What about? Do you know?" he asked her.

But before she could answer, there was a knock on their front door.

"...that's him. I can sense it." Lex muttered.

"I'll get it." he told her, making his way to the door.

And after she heard the door open, she heard Lex exclaim 'Holy Hell!', before there was a brief moment of silence, followed by some brief conversation, which then led to Azazel stepped further into the home, as Lex shut the door behind him.

Azazel sighed once more.

"Yeah." he said.

He then made his way to the bathroom and washed up, changing out of what he was wearing, and making sure all that had been leaking out of his wound was now cleaned off of him. Overall, with the time Aedan took to stitch him up, he was done in a little less than 15 minutes.

"Huh, good timing." he said, looking at the clock.

"Thanks, Aedan." he then said to the woman.

"This was a real big help." he told her, gesturing to the fresh stitches.

"Yeah, I was." Azazel replied.

"But, by proxy, that made me Lilith's, as well." he said.

"And I was a favourite for her to... ah... 'discipline'..." he mumbled. "You know, whip into shape so I can be a proper possession for her daughter." he lamented further.

"Also, yeah, I know." he sighed.

"Sorry about this." he apologised again.

"I... it was stupid of me to 'check up' on Lilith." he admitted, doing his best to remain as still as he could so she could properly stitch the wound.