Colin's posts

"I can't, either." Cain responded.

"Dad just seems... different, somehow." he said.

"But... I mean... maybe it's me?" he went on.

"It's possible I'm imagining things." he continued.

"I mean, that IS Dad. His mana is unmistakable." he reasoned.

"Just... ugh, maybe I'm seeing a problem where there is none." he lamented.

"Sorry. Don't let this make you late for work." he apologised to her.

As she headed off, she noticed their son, Cain, had a bit of a baffled expression as well.

He was looking in the direction of Azazel, so odds are it was related to him.

"Weird..." he mumbled to himself.

"....hmph." he then grunted, before sighing.

"Hey, Mom." he greeted Aedan.

'Is Dad acting... weird? Or is it just me?" he asked her.

"......" Azazel was silent for a moment.

"I..." he stammered.

"Oh. Right." he said.

"Ah-hah. Guess that slipped my mind." he admitted, scratching the back of his head and laughing sheepishly.

"Oopsie." he said further.

"I'll call Erica and clear things up in a bit." he then told her.

"For now, I just wanna sit down and relax for a while." he added, before starting to head off.

Azazel looked confused for a moment.

"....huh?" he asked.

"The hell...?" he mumbled, before shaking his head.

"And I'm sure Erica's fine." he told her.

"Dealing with shit, but... well, that's understandable." he went on.

"Why do you ask?"

Azari just huffed a little.

"With pleasure." he said, before leaving her, alone once more.

- - -

Azazel sighed a little, as he stretched out and made his way to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"...I don't need to drink." he mumbled.

"But damn this feels nice." he said, guzzling the cold beverage.

"Refreshing!" he declared.

Azari just chuckled.

"I couldn't care less about you, or torturing you." he said.

"If Madam wanted you broken completely right now, she'd do it herself." he went on.

"Quite frankly, I have nothing to be jealous about. My life is right where I want it to be, and it's right on track." he told her further.

"This piece of junk was dying anyway, but... it'll be nice to use it as ammo to get the little grub in trouble some more." he then snickered.

"Quite frankly, his desperate persistence pisses me off." he admitted to her.

"Like he thinks he has a right to exist anymore."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Chris yelled in response.

"She believes in me and I will show that she can!" he went on.

He then paused for a moment, as he realised something.

He had defended her... and not just accepted it. He hadn't said 'if that's what she wants, then that's what she wants'.

And even then, he wondered about just how much he believed in that defense.

He didn't get to ponder it long, before Azari returned.

"Madam says that's enough." he told him.

"Which is to say, stop embarrassing yourself here any longer, and get to the waste disposal area. Get rid of the latest husks that were used up and make yourself useful. At least a little." he added.

Chris just sighed, growled again, and left the room, with Azari watching, and then looking towards Lilim.

"...." he was silent, before gathering the broken pole, and shaking his head.

"Madam is not going to be happy about THIS." he smirked.

Chris threw the prod to the floor in frustration, causing the empty cartridge to be forcefully ejected from it.

"DAMN IT ALL!" he yelled.

"Stupid thing!" he shouted.

He then seemed to get even more frustrated, before turning to Lilim.

"This is YOUR fault!" he told her, slamming his fist into her gut.

"...." he was then silent, before turning away from him.

"I'll be back with more tools to use on you." he growled.

Again, Chris paused when she said that.

And she could see in his eyes, the conflict that was happening within.

On one hand, there had been what was beaten into him throughout his entire life, and what Vanessa had strengthened. On the other hand, there was a rational human mind in there somewhere, that KNEW something wasn't right about that.

"Just... just shut up!" he barked.

"I come around because I'm ordered to. I come here to break you!" he said, jabbing the rod into her ribcage again.

"Damn it!" he cursed, turning up the voltage to full... to the point where it caused immense pain... and then shorted itself out.

"....crap." he muttered when he heard that.

He merely flinched when she asked her question.

"It doesn't matter." he said.

"I don't matter." he told her.

"I've never mattered, and if there's one thing life has taught me, it's that one is meant to be used up and thrown away. That is what life is." he continued.

"That is what one's purpose is, and to try and go against it is just stupid arrogance."

"....yeah, sure." Chris muttered sarcastically.

"There's nothing I can do." he said.

"I can't get out." he told her.

"I'm nothing." he continued.

"I can't do anything. I am nothing when compared to her." he said further.

"A mere insect before a giant..." he lamented.

"This place isn't bright." Chris replied.

"At all." he said.

"You know that." he went on.

"...." he was silent yet again, before shaking his head, as they heard footsteps.

He jabbed the prods into her again, and let loose with a massive blast, as Azari walked by and looked in briefly, before going on.

"Hmph." Chris mumbled.

"Just looking for reasons for her to toss me." he growled.

Chris just gritted his teeth... before letting out a light chuckle.

"To be fair, you're fun to torture." he said.

"Er... well, 'fun'." he corrected himself.

"And... I guess torture is relative..." he went on.

"And I guess it IS conversation..." he admitted, shocking her again.

"..." he was then silent once more, and sighed heavily.

"You're... one of the few that even TALK to me, you know that?" he asked.

"Seriously. I can count the number of people that legitimately TALK to me in this place on ONE hand."

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

"No." he said.

"Wait, yes." he corrected himself.

"No, I mean..." he stammered, before growling.

"I don't even know." he mumbled.

"What the hell do you care, anyway?" he asked, taking a small pin-like device out of his pocket and jabbing it into her side. It acted like a lightning rod for the electricity, making it a bit more intense when it surged through her. Less spread out, but hurt more where it DID hit her.