Colin's posts

Cain sighed quietly.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"I mean... there's always an isolator serum." he went on.

"But those have only about a 75% chance of working." he said.

"They're simpler to make, though." he continued.

"And I KNOW we should have the stuff for it." he then said further.

"....also, yes, please ignore things like that." he added quietly.

Cain was silent as she said what she did.

"Uh..." he stammered.

"Well, there's... always a tracer potion." he said.

"First one to identify foreign mana. Then maybe find a way to extract a sample?" he suggested.

"Then perhaps use that to find a way to specifically identify it?" he went on.

"...or just let it take its course, I'm sure it's nothing!" he suddenly blurted out.

Just as he sat down, Ryker handed him an omelet and some juice.

"Here." he said.

"Just finished." he told him.

"Eat up." he went on.

"Sleep okay?" he asked.

"Morning." Ryker replied.

"Barely." he chuckled.

"It's almost noon, sleepyhead." he told him.

"Thought I'd let you sleep for a bit, before the smell woke you up." he added.

"Making omelets." he went on.

"Hungry?" he asked.

He sighed, and climbed into the sleeping bag, allowing Ryker control again, and falling asleep.

Ryker looked over towards Eke, and sighed.

He then looked skyward again, and smiled.

"Heh." he chuckled.

"Looks like things are all right now." he mumbled.

He then made sure to set an internal clock so he would wake up before Eke, and start making breakfast.

The demon just smirked.

"Ya got a sense of humour, kid!" he called to him.

He then sighed and got off the rock, before following Eke to the sleeping bags.

"I'll let Ry-guy actually sleep." he said.

He then put some more wood in the fire and made sure the flame was going strong once more.

"...warm night or not, it can still get chilly." he mumbled.

"......." Cain was silent as Aedan said what she did to him.

"All right." he said.

"And... yeah, that sounds right." he went on.

"Dunno HOW it found me, though." he muttered.

"Seriously. I have no idea how some outside mana got to me." he clarified.

"I suppose could just be rogue stuff, but... for some reason I doubt it." he went on, before wincing again.

"Though half of me wants to say that's exactly what it is, and we have no reason to worry." he quickly said further.

Azazel shook his head.

"I don't know." he said.

"Up until now, I wasn't even aware that something was wrong." he admitted.

"I... I've been having issues." Cain then said.

"Like... control issues." he said further.

"As in... control over my mind and body... issues."

"...I..." Cain stammered.

"No." he said.

"No, I... I shouldn't be going there." he said further, as Azazel tossed him the phone.

He managed to catch it, though he did seem to stumble and fumble a bit.

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

And he then grabbed half of his head.

"Ngh." he grunted.

"Huh?" Cain muttered.

"What's going on with Dad?" he asked.

"...oh, wait..." he mumbled.

"Is this about how he's been acting... off?" he asked her.

"And yes, you HAVE been." he then said to Azazel.

Cain winced a little, but nodded.

"I... uh, yeah, sure." he said.

"Yes. Yes, I can do that." he told her.

"I WILL do that." he said further, in a very... odd... statement to make.

It was as though he was trying to convince someone that he would do it.

And it seemed like that someone was... himself.

"I... I..." Azazel stammered.

"I don't know!" he exclaimed.

"I... I don't care about Erica's wellbeing!" he went on.

"Or... well, rather, I seem to be ambivalent to it..." he clarified.

"And I don't know why!" he continued.

"I'm trying to care, Aedan! I'm actually trying to make myself care!" he told her.

"And... and it's not working!" he added.

It was at that point, their son, Cain, popped his head into the room.

"Mom? Dad?" he addressed them, concern in his tone.

Azazel was silent for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"I mean, well..." he said further, before sighing.

"....I...." he repeated.

"I... I don't..." he went on, before his expression changed to that of concern.

"I don't." he said.

"...why?" he then asked himself.

"Why do I not care...!?" he asked further, growing agitated, and like he was in a crisis right now.

Azazel snapped to attention and shot a look at her.

"Now, see here...!" he said.

"Just because I haven't gone to see her, just because I haven't gone and been with her while she slept, just because I've been slightly neglecting my responsibilities as a... friend..." he continued, but slowed down at the end.

"That... that doesn't mean..." he went on, but trailed off.

"I..." he stammered.

".............huh." was all he managed to get out after thinking about it.