Colin's posts

He thought for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, we can do that." he said.

"And things haven't changed." he told her. "Still the same price as ever." he said further... before chuckling. "For you, anyway." he added, shaking his head a little.

"Also, 2 centuries." he corrected her, before noticing Ashley and Lindsay.

"Seems a lot's changed since then." he commented.

The one behind the desk had been organising the keys, and seemed to tense up for the briefest of moments when he heard her voice, but she knew it would only be because he was still adjusting to her presence here. It had been a sudden appearance, after all.

He then turned around and looked at her, before smiling back.

"A bit." he responded.

"And two rooms, side by side?" he asked, before checking the records book.

"...does it HAVE to be side by side, or can they be across from each other?" he asked her.

The boys were silent for a moment, and then followed her in the direction she had gone. As they walked with her, and into the town proper, they saw that it really was a bustling place. A lot of people were milling about, doing their business and such... and many were looking at the trio and whispering amongst themselves.

The boys wondered if it was just because they were new, or... something else.

Regardless, they tried to not let it bother them, and continued along their way.

They kept walking until they saw the Inn come into view in the distance, and the boys smiled.

"Looks welcoming." Lindsay commented.

The boys nodded.

"That'd be nice, yes." Ashley agreed.

"...is something wrong?" Lindsay then asked.

"You seem worried." he commented, having picked up on it. "Why?" he asked her.

As he asked, Ashley looked around, scanning the area.

He was wondering if she knew something THEY didn't.

The boys just nodded, and started to get ready to sleep.

They'd been on the road for weeks by this point, and had managed to cross the border as well. It hadn't been the easiest, but they had managed it, and were now putting serious distance between them and that travelling band of hunters.

After another night in the woods, they saw a small town in the distance, and approached it. Stepping into it, they saw it seemed like a close-knit place, but large enough for some commerce. Overall, a nice place to live, it seemed.

"...maybe here?" Ashley suggested.

"This looks like a place where we can find a new home."

They nodded in response.

"Okay." they said in unison.

"Guess we need to get ready and actually bed down." Lindsay then said further.

"Yeah." Ash agreed.

"And odds are we'll be on the move a lot." he added.

"I... well..." Lindsay mumbled, before Ashley spoke up.

"You trust Anya, right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Lindsay replied.

"And you trust ME, right?" Ashley then asked further.

"Of course. I always have." Lindsay stated clearly and definitively.

"Then trust us when we say that testing her venom on me should be fine." Ashley told him. "Remember... they tested a LOT of bad venoms on me." he reminded him further. "The worst being when they had a Quill-back Cobra bite me." he went on. "Took a few hours, but I was able to eventually ignore the pain and my body fought it off." he finished.

This was... distressing for Anya to hear. That particular snake's venom was as lethal as it got, and had a 95% mortality rate for those that were bitten by it, unless they had an antidote on hand to use within 10 minutes. And once that 10 minutes had passed, the victim was dead, due to their internal organs rapidly failing in quick succession.

@totalanimefan: Oh, good to hear! That's a relief, heh.

@sorrowthemad: That is VERY good to hear. And... yeah, it IS kinda weird how predictable it is, when one manages to fight through it.

"...I don't know." Ashley admitted.

"That sort of venom was never tested on me." he said. "Nor was demonic venom." he went on.

"...is it wise to find out?" Lindsay inquired.

"We have no idea how your body will react to it." he stated, which caused Ashley to laugh slightly.

"At this point? I welcome a challenge from any venom."

"...you think so?" Ashley asked.

"You HAVE been the one that did all the work, the sneaking, and such, throughout our lives of freedom." Lindsay reminded him.

"Okay, true." Ashley admitted.

"AND there's the fact that I'm immune to poison." he then added.

"Toxins." Lindsay corrected him.

"You're immune to venoms and such from animals."

"...huh." Lindsay mumbled.

"I never knew that." he said. "...interesting." he said further.

"Yeah, seems you got lucky, between the two of us." Ashley then said.

"You lost the curse, AND got crossed with an awesome creature." he told her.

"...and they picked a MOUSE for me..."

Lindsay then paused again, and seemed to think about it... though he did NOT like what he was thinking about, apparently. This caused Ashley to come a bit closer and place a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to-" he started to say, before Lindsay interrupted.

"I WANT to." he stated.

"...I DO remember creating black flames." he then said.

"And... yes, once I was combined with a phoenix... they went to standard flames." he recalled, opening his eyes again.

Ashley nodded.

"Yeah, I can." he said, as Lindsay shook his head.

"I cannot." he told her.

"Why?" he asked. "You think that's connected?" he asked her.

"...why would it be?" Ashley then mused.

"I mean, it's still fire, right?"

The boys looked at her, before looking at each other.

"I... maybe?" Lindsay replied.

"I think we have, and I've never tasted a difference. None that I can recall." he admitted.

"Hm." Ashley mumbled.

"I guess I'm just worried over nothing." he stated.

"But I often wonder why my fire is black... and Lindsay's isn't." he went on. "It was never really explained to us."