Colin's posts

Jaden looked to the comm system and made his way over, pressing the button.

"Kalin?" he said.

"Yep." was the response.

"You know where I am." he told her, pressing the button to let them in. He then hung up and waited for the knock on the door.

Sure enough, it came a couple of minutes later, and he opened the door.

"Allo." he greeted them.

Rene nodded.

"Sure thing." he said.

"I'll make sure it's all safe and secure." he told her.

Jaden nodded as well.

"I understand." he told her.

"I'll head home, then." he said.

"You know my buzzer number."

Both Rene and Jaden were silent as well.

"...she makes fair points." Rene said.

"Hm." Jaden mumbled.

"Well, it IS up to you, Desiree." he told the magician.

"What do you feel is best? Or safest? Or what?" he asked her.

"Your decision."

Jaden just shrugged.

"Hey, doesn't matter to me." he said.

"However, my mana IS good for transporting stuff." he chuckled.

"...he has a point." Rene admitted.

"Any stuff from her place can very quickly go to his place." he reasoned.

"Better than teleporting with any of OUR mana."

"......" Jaden was silent, before sighing quietly.

"Right." he said.

"So... how do you want to do this?" he asked Desiree.

"I mean, you want to get anything from your place before heading to mine? After? Let someone else do it?" he asked further.

"I can do that, if you want." Rene offered.

"All up to you."

Rene was silent for a moment.

"I mean... well... yeah." he said.

"Sounds fine to me." he told her.

"Same..." Jaden agreed.

"I have plenty of room, so it won't be an issue." he told everyone.

"So... yeah, sounds good."

There was a bit of an underlying allusion to Desiree's last response, but Jaden ignored it, figuring it was unintentional. Or he could have been looking too deeply into it. Or he was still confused.

Regardless, he shook his head and cleared his throat.

"She has a point." he said to Desiree.

"You and I barely know each other." he told her.

"And for all intents and purposes, considering the attitudes we put forth to the public, one would think we'd be oil and water." he went on.

"So staying with me really would be the perfect hiding place."

Jaden paused for a moment, seemingly VERY confused.

"Wait..." he said.

Rene just rolled his eyes and gave a look to Kalin, as if to silently say 'here it comes...'

"Right, mana hunters." Jaden said.

"But... aren't they... family?" he asked her. "How would you be...?" he started to ask further, but shook his head.

"Hold on, 'one such as myself'?" he then asked her.

"Woah, woah, woah, SO many questions are in my head right now." he told her.

"Yep, that figures." Rene commented offhandedly.

Ryker was about to mention about Eke needing more sleep, almost unsure as to what to say about a topic so heavy, but then he almost got mental whiplash from the sudden shift in tone and topic.

"...ah..." he stammered.

"Right." he said.

"Firstly, yes, that might be something worth bringing up with her." he told him.

"Secondly, I'm sure we can find a place to fish tomorrow, sure." he added.

Jaden was silent, and bit his lip slightly.

"It's okay." he said.

"We both escaped with... well, myself with minimal damage, and you certainly could have fared worse." he continued.

"And the crowd had a good time." he went on.

"......" he was then silent, before sighing heavily.

"...look..." he said.

"I'll make sure this doesn't happen again." he told her.

Jaden looked... very confused.

"I... ah..." he stammered.

"Right." he said.

"Yes. It really seems so." he agreed.

"But... headset?" he asked.

"I mean, I know you're always wearing a set of them... are they expensive?" he asked her.

"I can get you a new pair." he offered.

"Top-of-the-line."

"I would hope so." Ryker replied.

"I paid for a really nice one that offered a smooth ride." he told him.

"After all, we'll essentially be living out of this thing for a while." he chuckled.

"So may as well be comfortable in it!" he reasoned.

"We may need to sleep in it as well, depending on when we need to pull off for the night." he then added.

"......" Jaden was silent as he saw Desiree.

"I..." he stammered.

"Wait, just outright TELL her this???" he asked Kalin, but she didn't have time to answer before Desiree got close enough to talk to.

"Ah, hey." Jaden greeted her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"You look surprisingly all right, considering what just happened." he commented.

"It's true. They did." Jaden responded.

"And it was great." he said.

"But look at it THIS way... I have less to lose, here." he told her.

"I'm a new acquaintance. If I do this, and she doesn't want my company any longer, so be it." he said further. "It will suck, losing out on a potential future with her, whatever it might hold, but I was brought in to protect her." he continued.

"And protect her, I SHALL." he declared.

"I refuse to let such a talent, and such innocence, be corrupted any longer."