[hr][hr][center][h2][color=00ffbb]Lawrence B. Ellison[/color][/h2]
[img]http://i67.tinypic.com/zkl46a.png[/img]
[b]Living in the present, thinking of the past, and preparing for the future.[/b]
[@January][@GreenGoat][@RedDusk][/center][hr][hr]

[i][color=00ffbb]Showy but effective, as usual.[/color][/i]

Lawrence was more used to Shane and his capabilities than any of the new arrivals, and wasn't shocked at what had occurred. Still, one couldn't help but be impressed no matter how much they knew about the guy. Still, as he watched events unfold he was overwhelmed by a feeling. It wasn't awe, or respect, or relief as the remaining enemies were obliterated, not even the Golem which had looked to be a bigger threat than the rest of the battlefield put together. No, what he felt was quite different:

Disappointment.

The revelation shocked him a bit. Had he not always been relieved to be considered unimportant in regards to front line duty? In the fact that, if anything were to go wrong, he would be one of the first ones off the battlefield? Quite frankly, he suspected that staff mage was where he was destined to end up, and didn't really mind that path considering what the other possible use for him entailed. That is, being used and chewed up until he was dead. 

[i][color=00ffbb]It's just the adrenaline, same reason that daredevils feel good doing what they do, you don't really want this.[/color][/i]

However, he knew it was more than that. This wasn't his first time on a battlefield, the first time he had been attacked, or the first time that his life had been in serious danger. Still, he had been there on the front, trying to protect his peers, and trying to come up with a plan to face a category three. He was [i]certain[/i] they could have come up with a way to bring it down on their own after seeing what his team had been capable of. However, that opportunity was ripped away from him, and in it's place... disappointment.

[quote=Elizabeth]"[color=f7976a]I can't really explain it, Lawrence. It's like... This is something that only I can do, you know? You know I'm not trying to say your power is useless, but Stigmas can be sated without you, and you know that psychologists do just fine without being touched by Dreamcatcher. You know what they can't do though? Kill monsters. Doing that, I feel like I've found my purpose.[/color]"[/quote]

[i][color=00ffbb]Purpose.[/color][/i]

Yes, that was it, wasn't it? Killing that Golem had, for a short time, become his purpose. Maybe a goal that couldn't be accomplished without him considering the other teams would have had no time to come up with a plan of their own by the time they reached it. Sure, staying alive and saving Pink Team were more immediate goals, and certainly at the forefront of his mind. That desire, however, had been at the back, slowly growing louder as he argued with Ethan a stone's throw away from it.

As much as he [i]hated[/i] to admit it, Elizabeth had been right again. He hated losing an argument to anybody, but her especially. Still, he didn't let his thoughts linger on her longer than they needed to. Good never came of it, and there were plenty of people still alive that needed tended to.

Lawrence was not one of those individuals. While the blood and rips across his upper body, shirt, and face looked pretty gruesome at first glance, they were all superficial, and he had long since closed the wound on his wrist. At worst a couple of the cuts would leave shallow scars, but he thought even that would be stretching things.

With his ripped sleeves, the tattoos that were before only hinted at were easily visible, at least halfway up his arms. Both seemed to be covered in full sleeves, extending out of sight and barely visible through the various cuts in his shirt. The [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/92/c7/68/92c768bd724c51597aa0cc11f3c6d2bf.jpg]left[/url] seemed to be a surreal black and white scene, with a woman's face being ripped out of- or perhaps into- some reality. While the [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/d7/90/71/d790719907d4fb38a7576766cde842f6.jpg]right[/url] was, in contrast, a colorful landscape scene, beginning in space and ending at the surface of the ocean. Yet, it almost felt as if it was the ocean at the bottom that contained the depth of the image, rather than the detailed scene above it. Both scenes continued upward out of sight, hidden beneath his damaged shirt.

He barely had time to assess anybody else's injuries on the battlefield before a commotion erupted nearby. Sander, in all his lack of stability, seemed to have finally snapped and gone berserk. Remembering their encounter only a short while ago, Lawrence sighed and began making his way over to the trapped student. Shane, of course, had it handled, but it wouldn't hurt to try and diffuse the situation before people started making enemies. On his way over he passed Hazel, and clapped her on the shoulder with his free hand, offering a:

"[color=00ffbb]Thanks for saving me and Christmas from that doll attack, you have some pretty good battle judgement.[/color]"

Before moving past her. Shouting from other groups quickly reached his ears, but he ignored them. Sure, he [i]could[/i] try to force them to calm down with his power, but the battle was over now. Nobody was in danger if they let their emotions get the better of them (Berserking vampires aside) and it would do better in the long run to get things out of their system. No, Lawrence didn't interfere with them. Instead he walked over to Sander's prison and sat down in front of it, facing Shane. A white light enveloped both him and sanders as he did so, and with a sigh he broke the action on his shotgun and put the unspent shell back into its box.

"[color=00ffbb]Still living up to your reputation, huh Shane? I think you can relax a bit though, this seemed to work on him pretty well earlier. No promises of course.[/color]"

Sander had been weaker during their earlier encounter, but Lawrence hadn't been entirely at "full calm" himself either. Still, if Shane could relax a bit, he'd be in shape that much quicker for the next time they needed him. It was a chance Lawrence thought was worth taking. In either case, Lawrence was content to keep sitting, and closed his eyes to help fight the nausea the poison was still causing him. Sure, vomiting would help relieve the sensation a little bit, and he knew that, but he'd be damned if he let himself waste the coffee he [i]had[/i] managed to drink that day.

At the end of the day, it was the stupid shit he was stubborn about.