|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 11:00 pm
Lunch had been a rather quiet affair, which was a rare thing between the two of them. Usually at least one person was making some kind of comment about the state of the world or the state of their life or the state of their…rooms. For Harvey, his bedroom. For Mel, her craft room. But today Harvey noticed, at least for the few moments he was able to break out of his thoughts and actually saw his roommate, that she seemed to be lost in her thoughts as well.
Before long he heard her get up, and glancing down at his own plate he decided he’d also eaten enough and he got up as well, following her to the kitchen to help with cleaning up. It’d been weighing on his mind and for whatever reason, seeing her in that moment made him realize that he could talk to her about this. Realization came first, and then gratitude swiftly followed. She was there, after all, when all of this started for him.
He could talk to her, right?
“Hey,” he started, setting his plate by the sink. “Out of curiosity, why do you power up?” He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms in an attempt to look more relaxed than he was; he was failing, miserably, but points for effort.
“I’ve been doing some thinking after recent run-ins with some not great things and people and I’m just…I don’t know. It feels like a responsibility I should fully take on, but how do I do that when I find I'm potentially risking my life for something I don’t fully understand, and then I’m put up against people who have actual ways to fight? I’ve got a cone, Mel. A paper. ******** Cone.”
His frustration, after finally verbalizing what had been weighing on his mind, was palpable.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 11:23 pm
“First off, you’re an idiot for powering up alone.” She understood his frustration with the weapon he was given to at least some degree. Her own was a tea light lantern when she was a page, it was still the same lanter but on a long chain now but at least she could defend herself with it before she had gained any level of magic. “Especially when you know I’m here and can go with you…”Melody flashed him that ‘look’ that begged Harvey to challenge her statement before turning her back towards him. With the sink faucet running she mulled over his question as she rinsed off her plate and the fork she’d been using before putting them in the dishwasher. "Why do I power up...?" She parroted his question in a contemplative tone. "Honestly…? Because until recently, there wasn't a reason not to. For a long time, there was nothing to lose, yet everything to gain from it." Whether he realized it or not, Melody had been alone since not long after graduation. Amy and Nichol had both gotten married not even two months after getting their certificate. Jordon got accepted into some prestigious university out of state to pursue his master's degree. Blake and Steven got jobs that took them out of state while Christine went back to Illinois to take care of her family. Life took everyone on different paths and Harvey was no exception to this. At times it felt like graduation was the center of a spider web and everyone's paths led in another direction sometimes they connected in moments when there was a school reunion or a family vacation, something that brought them back. Although these fleeting moments were always full of nostalgic memories, they often left her feeling even more lonely when it came time to say goodbye again. "Powering up was an escape for me, a way to run away." When life got too frustrating and she had nobody to call because it was well past eleven when she was finally heading home. "I'd hide out on my wonder for a weekend where not even phone calls could reach me." Once a month free vacation to essentially a resort that only she had VIP access to. "It brought me peace." "I'm not interested in being a vigilante, I don't patrol the streets looking for trouble. If I hear of a place being plagued by trouble, like the reservoir, then I might check it out to see if it is a youma. But beyond that, I guess I'm a horrible example of what a Knight should be."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:16 pm
Idiot felt like a strong word, but it was hardly the focus of this conversation so he let it be. She was right, anyway, so he wasn’t going to interrupt her just to admit that. He did make a mental note to ask her to come along if he ever wanted to go on a patrol in the future, not that it would be anytime soon. He didn’t think so, anyway, since he was still trying to sort it all out for himself, but he did want to. There was something soothing there that he felt, something that calmed him whenever he was Kiringul.
Harvey listened closely, carefully, and watched his longtime friend and roommate. In all the time he’d known her he never pictured her the type to use the words “escape” or “run away” when things came up in her life. It was perhaps something that changed during their time apart, though it didn’t occur to him what the contributing factors might be. It felt foreign, though, and there was a part of him, when she said it, that wanted to pull her into a hug, because the way she said it somehow gave a distinct feeling of loneliness.
“If that worked for you,” he said, quite unsure what else to say. He didn’t know what she’d gone through to make her want to escape, nor why she would have wanted to be alone, but if it worked, who was he to question it? He wasn’t there.
Now, though, that was obviously not that case. He was here for her, and he hoped she knew it. He would have reminded her then and there, but how to say it without being overbearing or overstepping some kind of invisible line between them, he wasn’t entirely sure. So he just sighed and shifted so he was leaning lightly on her while she spoke.
The contact eased him, and when she finished he thought about everything she said. A singular question came to mind, so after a brief silence he asked, "So you have a reason not to, now?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:19 pm
Melody watched him for a long moment, her face expressionless so as to not betray her thoughts. But then she nodded, a nearly imperceptible motion until she found her voice, and replied "Yes."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:47 pm
Once again he was brought back to the fact of how well they knew each other. He could tell when there was something in the silence between them. There often was, he recalled, whenever they talked about more serious things. Because they did, at times. And he could ask. He knew he could ask, only this time there was a nagging thought that snuck up on him and told him he wasn't just curious. There was something there, something needling into his side that he couldn’t–or maybe wouldn’t–acknowledge.
But there were times to press and times not to. Considering the start of this particular conversation and the answers he was looking for, this felt like the latter, no matter how badly he wanted to ask her what changed.
"But you power up anyway," he said, focusing on the adjacent wall. "Is it maybe both? Maybe it's a good reason to stop, but you’ve got a better reason to keep going?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:53 pm
"No-" A pregnant pause followed as Melody considered her words more carefully. "It's not a good enough reason to stop, not yet anyway." The things she wanted back then, and even now, remained just out of arms reach. Stuck as a pedestrian out on the sidewalk peering in the window of someone else life. In times like this, it was hard to not stumble down the rabbit holes of 'what if' scenarios. But dwelling on such ideas would bring nothing but despair. What is the point of making him worry over something that couldn't be changed? "If you weren't a Cosmos knight as well then I wouldn't power up as often. Mostly because I don't like having to keep secrets and I don't like the idea of having to lie to you if I get hurt." Even white lies lead to feelings of betrayal when they're found to be false. That's not the kind of friendship she wanted with him. "Eventually you'd figure out that I wasn't going to my father's house on the weekend or visiting my brother Eric." Harvey was too intuitive to not catch on to inconsistencies or unusual habits. "You, however, have a reason not to." His daughter, Desirae (sp), was his pride and joy, and being a good father to her has always been Harvey's top priority. "On one hand you put your life on the line by powering which doesn't come without its own risks since, as a Page, you don't have any magic to defend yourself with. But in time you will get stronger and you will have the ability to keep Chaos away from Rae so she can live a normal civilian life." "But at the end of the day, you need to decide what's best for you and your daughter." For what it was worth, Melody adored the young girl. Loved her like a niece, doting on her when Harvey wasn't looking, even though she only ever called her by her name or Mel if her father had already said no to something but she wanted a second 'opinion' on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:21 pm
If he had any inkling as to what she was thinking about, it might have been an opportunity to talk about… Well. That was something entirely its own can of worms.
The bit about not wanting to lie to him brought a small smile to his usually frumpy face, easing the lines on his forehead that were gradually getting more noticeable.
Harvey considered her for a long moment, and everything that she'd said, eyes still trained at the wall. All of it was undoubtedly true, yet simply knowing sort of made it worse. How could he even consider relinquishing this power if it meant he could possibly be more able to protect her from all this in the future? Yet at the same time, how could he not consider it since it meant he might not be around for her in the future because of it?
"She's as much a reason not to as she is a reason to power up," he said as he straightened himself up. “I mean, I figured I wouldn’t be helpless at this level forever, and if this is the start then getting stronger is the only other option. If I can, I want to if it means I can protect her.”
There was a pause as he considered adding two words that were on the tip of his tongue. He knew Mel probably wouldn't need it, probably wouldn't even want it if he offered, but he wanted to protect her, too.
He wanted to protect everyone he cared about, but beyond his family Mel stood out the most.
In the end he chose not to, and instead sighed. “So...I guess that's my answer? Keep going, get stronger?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 11:02 pm
"It seems so." Melody move to finish putting the last of the dishes from lunch into the dishwasher before washing her hands and drying them off on the handtowel that hung from the oven handle. "I guess that brings you to the same place I'm at; finding the Code on our wonders and figuring out what's next from here." Ever since she had brought Kiringul to her wonder, Melody had felt an urgent pull demand she return. Almost like she had been close to uncovering something but had stopped just shy of its reveal and Einhornhohle needed her to find what was lost or hidden. Twice she'd returned but neither time had brought her to the field of flowers where she had started at with him and it made her start to wonder if his presence might be a key to discovery. "I'm sorry I can't be more help to you. The senshi I had met when I awakened was next to no help, she was going to introduce me to other knights but little did I know at the time that knights and senshi had no means of communication." That and Delilah had just finished her internship so civilian contact was cut off as well. "After that, I never took the time to find someone else to fill in the gaps. I just figured learn along the way." It just wasn't that important to her at the time. Sure she could tell him about the General who had threatened to kill her if she didn't take her to Einhornhohle. About how that same General later purified into a Cosmos Knight by Sailor Cosmos herself. But at the end of the day, even she left the same way as the Senshi of Doves did. A simple farewell with a promise of reconnecting later only to be left standing alone once more. "I know there are a number of knights out there, ones that have different symbols on their uniform like Mars and Earth, or Pluto even. But I only know two by name, however, it's been so long since I last spoke with either I wouldn't feel comfortable reaching out to either." After the Code had basically shamed her on Erytheia's world, Melody felt too embarrassed to reach out or contact any of the other Cosmos Knights who had appeared that day to help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 12:00 am
He nodded, though he didn’t fully understand what she was talking about. If it meant he had to explore his wonder to find something, though, he could definitely get behind that. He’d been planning on it, anyway. He often felt a strong desire to go back, though he hadn’t been able to since his first visit. Probably something he could ask about, but maybe not right that instant.
At her apology Harvey huffed and easily waved it away. “It’s fine. I learn by doing, anyway, so in a way this is a little better.”
If he did meet other knights, it would of course be helpful, but if every knight started the way he did that fateful day and were still around? Still fighting? He’d manage just fine, and more so with Mel around.
“I’m not going anywhere, so we can figure all this out together.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
