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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 10:19 am
He rested his back against the chair ser beside the bathroom door. Quiet, he listened to the soft rustle of moving water echoing against flesh and breathed out, twisting his impatient fingers between each other.
It had been a while, and he had washed and scrubbed their new apartment awaiting a text back from Jan. It had been a surprise to hear he was back and it took everything to keep him from running around the island teying to find the man. They all had a lot of catching up to do. Between him and Rin. Between him and Jan. A lot of lingering questions and concerns while his anchor was away no doubt suffering in that pod.
"Is the water warm enough? I haven't really tested it fully yet." He cleaned the bathroom to a spotless shine but only took a shower. He hoped they liked it.
He paused, anxious for a response. "It's pretty big, isn't this place? Was wondering what she'd like. We always talked about a place like this."
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:31 pm
Lawrence did not feel emotions the same way as other people, but on an animal level he could experience satisfaction from an action such as repetition, arousal, satiety and physical stimuli and as a result he did admittedly enjoy a hot bath. Melvin had done such a good job getting promoted while he had been podded, and even Horace was now on equal footing with him within the organisation, he had such useful friends. Friends, what a quaint word, marks was perhaps more accurate, but short of basic access to things which should technically have been human rights there was not an enormous reason to invest as much effort as he had in them. It was a game he played without understanding why.
"Oh yes." he exhaled, stretching in a way that was audible from the outside in the sloshing of the water. "It is quite, quite excellent. Well done on your promotion, well done."
He seemed to consider the question about the size of the place. "What did you two discuss?" he asked idly. "I would ask Rin, but I think that she is sleeping at present and I would not like to disturb her."
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:15 pm
He smiled with the luxury that no one else could see and felt relieved. "I'm glad. I made sure the place was cleaned before you got here." Not that cleaning wasn't the first thing he did regardless. But the bathroom he was sure to devote time with all the eager intentions of awaiting Jan to use it.
"I'm glad. You must be stiff with being in that pod I'm guessing." He hadn't been in a pod for any extended period of time to know. He licked his lips, worried to ruin the reunion and any chance of seeing Rin today. "I was... Surprised to hear the news." He said softly, but worried that he might have pushed too far and moved on.
"Oh... Yeah. She must be tired too. I guess it must have all been ..." Scary? No. Rin was brave but maybe she was scared. Scared and he hadn't been there to comfort her. "...worried."
He wished she was awake now.
Hands in his lap, he looked out at the furnished room devoid of many personal touched as of yet. "It was long ago when we talked about it, but we wanted to have a lavish bathroom to be in together after long missions and work. And maybe plants I guess for the windows and a big bed. I think we didn't say much after cause we'd be there together when it was time."
And it was time.
"So!" He turned quickly to the bathroom door. " We can plan it now. A place for us. I mean, even you too - for when she is sleeping." To keep Jan out of trouble and for Melvin to watch him. He wanted Rin safe.
He turned back in his chair to lean against the chair and looked at the door knob to the bathroom and wondered how warm the water was in the bath.
"It's big enough. I don't even know where she wants everything to be placed. I thought we had a lot but it feels like I barely have anything in this room. Not even dishes." He never had a kitchen before.
He rose his head up a little. "Uh... I hope what we have in there is okay. I just pulled out all the products me and Rin have from the boxes. I could get some stuff for you to keep here too if you want."
But he did like Jan smelling like Rin's shampoo.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:54 pm
"Oh yes, quite stiff." he said in a conversational sort of way. "Really gets you down pardner. But you have made me so welcome and glad to be back.." he smiled if only because it could be heard in his voice. "It was unfortunate but Horace requested it rather specifically of me, there were just simple misunderstandins along the way. Hopefully we can get to reconcilin' those differences eventually."
He nodded. "She was worried, but she held out and we are good friends now, she trusted we'd get out in the end and we did, so all's well that ended well."
As far as the room went he approved of the things that Melvin listed off. "That sounds wonderful.." he trailed dreamily. "I would so love a bathroom like that myself." Narrowing in on the comment about while Rin was sleeping he went on. "And oh and you'd let little old me stay around here? I wouldn't want to be a burden, I understand that your feelings are for Rin, I do so hate being a bother when I am too weary to channel her for you."
He reached out and picked up the nearest bottle with his good hand to read it and leaned back again with a slosh of water. "Mmm I have no preference I am afraid, choices are difficult. Is there anything you would prefer?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:26 pm
He wasn't sure how exactly what that meant. What had happened during that time? How was it a misunderstanding? What were they misunderstanding about?
He chewed on these things, not sure how to approach them delicately. With Jan fresh out of the pod, he felt it might be too soon, but he worried about anything else happening that he wasn't able to keep his eyes and ears out for to see if it would happen again? Was Horace and them together a trigger or was it America? Did they fight all the time and this was the first time he saw it? He would like to think that all the times he saw Jan naked would mean he would have noticed, but bruises and cuts healed quickly as a hunter.
"You two….seemed to get in a bad fight. Horace said it was about America." He tested again, but then felt like maybe he should drop it all together. It probably was too soon and Jan deserved a rest. He was probably traumatized as he was podded and Horace wasn't.
It wasn't Melvin's place, was it? Did he have the right to pry on Jan's life – even when it was shared with Rin's? Wouldn't she tell him later if something was bad anyways? Then again, wouldn't Jan know she told him? After all this time too, he should have made it known that Jan could come to him if he needed help or someone to talk to if things were bad.
And yet Jan didn't feel as if he was even welcomed here when he was now friends with Rin. Now friends? Were they not friends before? And…..how close of friends?
He wondered…..about how happy Rin was with Jan sometimes.
"I'm glad you are getting along. I can't say I know how it must be like to have some stranger inside you. I guess it's nice to think that, when Rin comes back, you guys can get along after. She is really a nice person – uh, but I'm sure you know that now what with her being there in your head." He gave another nervous laugh, not really sure what he was talking about. Maybe she would have liked Jan like she liked Melvin. They were both clean people who had some people that didn't like them.
"Oh, no! I mean, you do so much for us. We both owe you a lot and I'm sure Rin wouldn't mind sharing the room. There is so much space anyways." He said, raising his voice to the door in hopes he was more clearly heard. "I mean, even if you two had your own bodies, I would have shared." He already promised Horace and Shu they could use his shower – but Jan……Jan would have special access to everything.
Gripping the chair, he looked down. "I think you've sacrificed a lot to us and I want you to feel welcome. You're a good person. I just….like to think of you as someone important to us. To me. You've done so much for the both of us and I don't think you know how much we appreciate it. I mean….even without Rin, I think we could have gotten along. I mean do. ……..right?" Were they even friends? It was strange to assume that the person who he had been in close contact with wasn't even a friend.
He felt guilty that he hadn't talked about this with Jan sooner.
"I want you to feel like this is your home just as much as hers. I think she would like that too if you asked her. And…..if you need to talk about anything that's on your mind, I wouldn't mind hearing it. I don’t gossip and don't know too many people anyways that I could talk to if I did." He said with a little laugh.
It died down quickly before he leaned back, closing his eyes to listen to the water.
"Um…….I always liked Rin's shampoo." He admitted, feeling a little silly saying that to anyone but her.
She always smelled nice and he loved playing with her long, black hair.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:54 pm
"It was not a fight, not really." he said, setting the bottle back on the side of the bath. "Horace was jealous of one of my "exes", afraid that I still carried some sort of burgeoning torch for her and requested that I treat him the way I treated her. She was not fondly thought of on my part and I quite feel that he found it a little overwhelming when he was faced with it. You know me pardner, I do what I can to accommodate people, he just didn't think before he asked. It's a real cryin' shame it ended how it did."
"We get along very well." he agreed thoughtfully. "Rin and I I mean, at first it was a business relationship but I think she's come to really trust me over time. I am honoured by her trust and just as honoured by yours. My room is so very dismal, here I could help to attain Rin's dream and that would make me feel very contented and useful"
Melvin really was something special, someone special, there was a certain combination of naivety and forwardness which made him unique in those he'd run into. "I have few people in my confidence, but I certainly consider you one of those close to me pardner. It warms my heart to hear that you don't mind me always intruding on the lives of both of you, you just have your head on straight, you understand the value of being clean, of water and of the perfection of sanitisation."
There was another thoughtful moment before he spoke again. "It is just so hard to do anything with this missing hand. I fear I can't be as thorough as I'd like. If it would not offend you, could you help me find which of these are her favourites? There are so very many to choose from."
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 6:35 pm
"So…you two had a fight over your ex and – it just got heated?" Considering their hunter strength, he could see that happening. But hadn't Horace said that it was more than that? That it was about Jan not being able to love? That Jan had done everything on purpose? Then again, Jan said he asked for it.
It all felt dangerous and not in a thrilling, good way. He was wary of what this might mean about both Jan and Horace, and didn't want to have to pull away from either. No, it was more than that. It was that he couldn't pull away from them.
I'll watch him. I'll make sure that he and Horace are okay with each other. I'll be there for Jan and Horace to talk to. And he would keep watch over them both to insure whatever it was didn't happen again. This was all too important for it to be taken away again. Things were progressing. He was promoted. They had a new apartment. He could sit in on clone testing. He became a Runic Master. He wanted to continue for them to be here for life to get better and to help Rin get better than for her to be stuck. For their lives to return to normal.
It's…not all that bad.
All things considering, it still was nice. It was just he missed having Rin fully all the time. She had to come back because he wouldn't have done right by her if he didn't return her life to her.
"You already are useful, and it's good to have your own dreams too." Just, to let Rin have more. She had to get stronger to have a better grip. Then maybe she wouldn't be so tired all the time and could stay out more often.
He wished she would wake up.
"You're never an intrusion, Jan. I like having you around. You're a kind person. Open and giving so much for others." He wanted the man around constantly in hopes to see just the smallest glimmer of Rin, and to have company around. Without anyone else aside from Horace, and Rep probably made at him for messing up his experiment, he didn't have anyone else to talk to and that made the days too long.
Sometimes he wondered when a mission would happen and then found that it sometimes wished to be sent out. Then he got afraid about what he was really thinking and tried to do some type of work.
The call for help had Melvin tensing and he stared down at the chair he sat on for a moment. "Uh…o-okay. Yeah. I should have asked." No, he shouldn't. That would have been weird and he shouldn't have assumed Jan was incapable. He just – probably should have – he didn't know. Was this okay? "I'll be right there." He stood up, moving the chair aside to make it seem like he wasn't sitting so closely by the door and took a deep breath. Just the sound of the water had been enough, but he felt his heart racing at the prospect of it.
Moving slowly, he gave a small knock at the door and opened it, pushing it ajar. A rush of warm air hit him, and he took a deep breath, welcoming it. Stepping in, he looked around and sat Jan sitting in the tub. Just looking, he wasn't ever sure who was there, but knew it was Jan and that somehow made things awkward. He had only seen Jan naked, touched Jan naked, when it was her.
He eased the door barely shut behind him before walking over. His eyes moved over the edge of the tub and noticed that there were no suds on the water and his eyes went right back up.
Why am I even worked up? I've seen him naked. More than that.
But it was HIM he was seeing, not HER.
He could feel the heat from the tub's water and could imagine how it warmed skin. Whatever grime that was accumulated from sleeping in the pods was melting away leaving just - them.
"I forgot how hard it can be. When Rin lost her arm, she had a hard time with everything at first." He said, trying just to talk as he made his way over. The toilet was not near the bath tub like most smaller bathrooms and so he slowly knelt down and started to pick out the shampoos and soaps Rin used – and the ones he preferred the most on her he put up on the rim of the bath.
"Do…you need anything else?" He asked, opening the bottles of each so Jan wouldn't need to struggle with that and keeping his eyes laser focused on the bottles' labels.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 6:59 pm
"It means a great deal to have you think so highly of me when so many others decry my very existence. I will do what I can to continue to earn that estimation."
There was a sense of propriety in the way that the pale man made himself at home in property that was not his, there was no shy humility, no cowed and meek gratitude, simply the calm and graceful indifference that marked everything he did. He had his eyes closed as Melvin opened the door, as if in some meditative reverie, but as the other man approached he opened them, giving him a rather feline slow blink, smiling subtly as the other man looked away.
"I had adapted rather well." he said. "But the time in the pod, well, it undoes a lot of my hard work, in the dreams in that place I found myself with both hands often and returning to this very dismal state of affairs was startling. I am back at square one."
He held out a slender hand, palm up. "Be a darling pardner and dispense me a little shampoo." If Melvin complied, he set to lathering his hair and added.
"Did I tell you that I am in Life Division now?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:12 pm
"People think the same about me." He commented before picking up Rin's shampoo and lifting it up to Jan's expecting palm. Throat dry, Melvin slowly squeezed the bottle as it poured the thick cream down onto Jan's hand, the palm slowly filling with a mound of soap. For a moment, he just watched as little drops of water fell from Jan's fingers and down his wrist before he turned away, capping the bottle and setting it down.
With gripped attention, he watched Jan run the soap through his short hair and start to lather it up into frothy mounds that collected into peaks before falling down. Already he could smell the sweet aroma of it and it brought him back to warm nights right after shared showers and a heavier mattress weighted by two bodies.
He had to pull himself back when he heard Jan again. "Life?" He repeated, fully regaining his senses for a moment. "That – That's great. We could use all the help we can get. Is there any particular section you will be focusing on? I went from general research into runics. I…" He forgot to tell her. "I actually became a Runic Master recently. I now have clearance to runic things on my own now." He said, though it felt a little less like an accomplishment now when it didn't seem he was valued much in the division. ….ticking time bomb….
..embarrassment…
He shook his head as he set the bottle down and turned the bottle of conditioner over to idly give his greedy hands something to touch.
"I….actually saw something that looked like you too….that had two hands." He trailed off, looking up. Jan should know he was cloned. He should know about a lot of things. How Jan probably shouldn't work hard to win his favor at all.
"I mean…not that two arms is better. I…kinda don't think it is." He liked Jan with one arm. It was so much like Rin.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:31 pm
"Well they are wrong about you." Lawr said, taking meticulous care with the shampoo, finding repetition and organisation effortless and systematically lathering every inch of his scalp. It was the first proper bath he had had in a long time and the memory of the unpleasant vermin-ridden basement showers as Chantelle was set neatly aside. He was perfection and therefore he deserved nothing less than perfection. When he came to the side opposite his good hand, where he would have to twist awkwardly to reach, he gave Melvin a curious look.
"Do you think you could help me reach?" he asked, innocently. "I would rather not risk getting it in my eyes, if I can help it"
"And a Runic Master? That is very, very impressive Melvin. You could make a sizeable income with a talent like that you know, everyone who comes to this island needs their items imbued with runic capacity, you will be in such high demand." There was a pleased croon twisted up with his words. "You are a wonderful, intelligent individual, I expected nothing less of you. As for me, I will hopefully be concentrating on the infirmary. I was a vet once, for a decent amount of time, I hope to be able to apply those surgical skills with adaptation, to hunters. At the moment it is all bottom-rung work however."
Melvin got a keen interested look as he went on. "You did? Two hands. Certainly not me, I've had just the one for some time. An impostor, perhaps? I cannot be sure what H was doing while I was trapped in the pod." He sighed dramatically. "I am afraid that the worst part of this disability is having to be such a burden upon others, I am grateful every single day that I have such a wonderful understanding friend as you, pardner."
"And one who understands the importance of cleanliness next to godliness."
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:49 pm
He looked back at Jan looked at him, awaiting his help. "Uh, no problem." He said, hoping his voice sounded normal as he set the bottles on the bathtub's rim aside and moved to sit up. He took the bottle of shampoo again and was about to start but remembered he hadn't washed his hands first. He got up. "Hold on."
Removing his gloves, he went to the sink to clean his hands. Then he came back to sit and then poured some shampoo into his hand, leaning in and glancing for a moment down at the water before looking back. Slowly he moved his hands into the slick locks of Jan's short hair. It reminded him of when Rin had her hair shaved during the lice infection and was just growing back in.
The shampoo polled between his fingers before it started to lather in thick clouds and he moved his hand slowly, careful not to tug or pool, but letting his fingertips sink deep into his hair against his scalp and travel around slowly. The hot water had already made Jan's head warm, and Melvin took care not to be too rough.
He took another hard swallow as he tried to keep his breathes from shuddering.
"I-It was a clone. The horsemen must have gotten you when you were in the desert and woke up in that pit. I found one. I mean, I went and Horace and Al came with me. We found one of you. I was – I was curious. Taym said there were clones on Twitter and told me they were in the Sahara. I honestly didn’t think I'd find one for weeks if at all."
As he sat, he brought his other hand up and tentatively started to lather Jan's scalp with that too. Between the smell and the warm air. He felt light-headed, but he continued on.
"I captured it. Brought it back." His mind tried to keep focused. "…but I couldn't go with it. I didn’t have clearance………..so I spoke with Dr. H." Rin was in Life. She knew how Dr. H could be, but she didn't know how bad. She didn't know that Dr. H dissected her body and placed it on Melvin when he tried to take it. He hadn't told her that, afraid she might get angry at him for trying to steal her body or that he didn't prevent H from dissecting it.
He liked her to think her old body went away without any problems.
"He….the project with the clones is his. He doesn't really think anything of me." No, he thought a whole lot about him. "….actually, he thinks I'm the worst Lifer in the division. A real ********." Worse than Robert Morris. "….except for carving I guess. But I still - I still asked, but he is going to let me look on at the clone testing for a bit. I mean, it's not much. I don't t know if he'll even let me see anything important………I just thought……maybe it's something."
A way home.
"I'm sure you'll do better in our division." He added, running his hands slowly through Jan's hair and letting a mound of soap fall onto the man's shoulder. He slowly brought his legs together.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:36 pm
"The clones are H's project?" he said thoughtfully. That explained a great deal and to some extent made the present situation with Chantelle more palatable. She had not been drawn out of his very mind and placed in the world beyond but perhaps was simply some manner of clone, much like the one that Melvin had encountered and the others that he had watched form in the desert. "That makes sense, I have had a few interesting encounters with the man of late."
He closed his eyes under the attention on his hair and exhaled in a very satisfied sort of way. "And frankly, you want him to think you are worthless, that is the goal Melvin. The man is a psychopath, unpredictable and cold, if he thought you were competent, he would have you killed. But simply because he says you are not does not make that a fact. Take your opportunity to look in on the clone testing, but don't plead for his attention, don't let him smell desperation on you or he will do worse than call you names."
"You are competent, your only flaw is your eagerness and that is simply a flaw because he cannot understand it. And I hope that I can be at least useful to your division, though at present I feel my history will set me back further than it might others. But I will persist regardless."
He reached for the soap and set about cleaning the rest of him while the other man worked. "Tell me when you are done and I will rinse it." he said idly. "If you could help me with the conditioner too I would be most obliged."
He gave Melvin a sidelong look and took a deep breath before sighing as if deciding to just get some difficult question over with. "Would you not be more at ease here with me? Or a shower?" It was a dangerous one, without the Rin persona present, but caution did not register as a reason to stop on Lawr's personal radar.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:17 pm
When Jan spoke, it was someone who had an idea where to go, and Melvin thirsted for that guidance. He was left months with the only direction being Rin telling him to find a door. It wasn't until Jan came that Rin came back to deliver more messages, and then it was Jan showing him how to proceed. Without Jan, he was left to his own faulty devices, and while he felt he made some progress, he felt beaten and battered from the process. He hardly remembered that he had an ego left until it had been bruised. Jan talked as a man in the know, who had been thinking of something that he now was letting Melvin in on, and he was glad for it though with some confusion.
"I guess I shouldn't be too concerned, but I don't feel I will get to be allowed anywhere as I am right now. Wouldn't showing I'm better let me get closer to the cloning project. To help us out?" Did H really kill good hunters when he saw they were useful. "He told me he liked useful hunters. That he basically just wanted to use everyone." Though Jan also seemed to have had his own encounters and maybe got far more insight into the man's mind than he did.
It was nice to have Jan smooth over the sharp words of Dr. H and he felt better, soothed from the sore emotions and followed directions. "I'll watch then. He won't let me do anything else anyways." And watching for now was better than having been kicked out.
At the call to rinse, Melvin paused, noticing now he had been massaging Jan's head for some time well beyond the point of even an extended clean. He pulled his hands away, looked at his sudsy hands, and then at the water about Jan's body. He rose up slightly to see about rinsing them off in the sink when Jan sighed and called back to him.
His body tensed as he looked at Jan, as it was clearly still Jan. It didn't hold the playful sweetness of Rin, and as he looked back at him and felt Jan look at him, he took in the words one by one. "With you?" He asked, shocked that he would even offer and then wondering why he did offer? Had he come off strongly somehow? Did he think he was hitting on him? Did he want to get hit on? Did he take the shampooing as something else or had he been testing the waters by asking about shampooing? Did he just hit on Jan without knowing, and most of all – was Rin even awake now to know what was going on?!
"Um, I mean yeah but I mean for bath purposes just – I mean you're Jan." Right, he knew that. "And Rin. I mean I'm with Rin." Yes, he was. "Not that you're not amazing." He knew well what Jan's body was like, but that body was the body. This was the mind he was going to be associating with. Jan's mind – in Jan's body. Not Rin's mind – in Jan's body. A body that he had held and touched and – well, done a many number of things with that he hadn't done in months. "She is too though. And her mind. Love her mind. Your mind is great. You're great. Awesome. Amazing. " He had to stop using adjectives. It was like some horrible train of words! "And we're amazing – together. Rin and I. We have been. For a while. And…. I can't – " He didn't know what he was thinking. "- and Horace.." Yes, he was with Horace. "…right?"
"I should wash my hands." He quickly added, rising up. Walking was going to be - difficult.
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:38 pm
"Move closer to the cloning project simply by showing competence on your own. H has eyes and ears everywhere, if you work steadily and well, he will know about it. Demanding respect will only make you look weak and desperate." Lawr understood the smell of prey and Melvin absolutely reeked of it in a metaphorical sense. He sought validation so stubbornly that it made him a target for anyone around. Lawr at this point wanted him as his target only, that involved trimming away the interest of others, though it seemed Melvin had already deterred H with his lack of direction without guidance. That suited him just fine.
Melvin's reaction was investigated and measured, but Lawr did not look even remotely concerned about how much it had ruffled the other man.
"I apologise if I offended you pardner." he said in his casual drawl as he sunk into the water, rinsing his hair and sitting back up again lazily. "But I had a great deal of time to speak with Rin and she said she did not actually mind. She said it might be fun actually and encouraged me if you were interested, that is all really. So I did. As for Horace and I well..I do not actually know where we stand at present, and it would not technically be doing something that my body has not done before."
He closed his eyes again and smiled. "But we can wait for Rin, if you like, it is not a problem, it just might well be a few days until she does. It takes some time for my mind to recoup after such a long time podded I'm afraid."
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:44 pm
Days.
Days.
He felt weak in the knees and given where all the blood had traveled, he felt ready to drop.
Slowly, he knelt down. ".........days?" He had to be joking, right?
Then again, Jan wasn't much of a comedian. Playful, but not a Joker.
He looked at Jan resting in the tub. "........you talked to her about this?" If the large chest of toys hadn't been a testament to Rin's playful nature, he might have been in disbelief that Rin would have been fine with such a thing, but she often joked about him and Rep on numerous occasion.
"........about the both of us?"
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