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 Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:26 pm
"Sometimes. You can tell the good friends to those just being responsible. Then there are some who will talk about leaving you to rot. We have a very mixed bag here. It's why I said it's good you have a group of friends with you. Someone to pull you out of trouble or call for help." He wasn't too sure how many people would stand by him anymore, but he had a hard time getting Lawr out of the Sahara, and still found it unsettling to hear talk of throwing him out of the safety of the cove.
His question had a more startling reaction then he thought, and it was apparent that Merric would never be good at bluffing his way through any poker games with how easily he showed his emotions on his sleeve. "Easy there." He said, reaching out to place a hand on the glass Merric was holding and pulling it free. "Hunter strength doesn't do good against glass." He said, moving the empty cup over to the end of the table and frowning at the little cracked splinters through it.
"I'm guessing they weren't affectionate in other ways? Just strict?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 9:03 pm
"I saw a little bit of it," said Merric, shifting in his seat. "On Twitter, there were...people talking about things like that. About leaving people."
He hadn't really paid attention to much of the other conversation. Talk of someone to pull you out of trouble or call for help had his chest constricting; his thoughts instinctively had gone to Lysander and Roswell first and foremost, and then to Sam - but he pushed them away almost immediately.
He could not be certain of anything anymore. Merric's hand was gripping the empty glass so tightly his knuckles were white; he felt the gentle tug of Melvin's fingers and loosened his own instinctively, glancing down as though startled to find out he'd been doing it in the first place.
A hollow laugh - more hollow than he'd intended - escaped before he could stop it.
"No," said Merric, and his voice sounded tight even to his own ears. "No, 'affectionate' is not a word I would have associated with my parents at all. Strict...perhaps, though it sounds almost like an understatement."
It was painful to say it aloud. Merric's throat felt dry.
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:36 pm
"I'm sorry to hear they weren't as ....close or as easy going as some parents. A good many people leave the island for just such a reason. Some even find relatives here too that left too." He said, thinking of his own sister or brother. The only reassurance was that neither of them had shared the same experiences he had and so he doubted would be recruited.
"Was that the reason why you came to Deus Ex or for something else?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 6:59 pm
He had come to the island because it had been an escape, a release from everything - and everyone - that had been holding him back previously. Barron, his parents, his job, his studies - studies that he had loved and that he had wanted to continue studying, but that had felt, somehow, like they were choking him.
Merric's fingers slid absently along the wood grain of the table, not really seeing it.
"Yes," he said quietly. "That was a part of why I came, yes. I was...it's exhausting to continue trying when there is no possible positive outcome."
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Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:14 pm
He was far more somber at that statement and nodded in agreement. "I can relate to such a statement. Trying time and again in hopes something will change and your efforts will be rewarded to show that life isn't fair is hard on the spirit. It isn't one a person can keep up without being broken down. It's a good thing for you to escape such a lifestyle. I know Deus isn't the haven most people think it is, and people love to complain, but I think it still offers something we all had hope in to come here. While reality might have changed our minds on that, I like to think it has helped some people."
And he smiled back at him. "And I do appreciate good people like you showing up to keep me company." The bartender dropped off another glass for Merric with a note that their meals would be done in a few minutes.
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 9:06 am
The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and hoping for a different outcome.
Merric couldn't remember where he'd heard it, but if it were true, it meant that he was already losing his mind. He spread his palm on the table, fingers splayed as he tried to focus on what Melvin was saying, rather than the complete mess inside of his own head.
"I don't see how it's helped me yet," he said quietly. "It's just..."
Merric trailed off, but the unspoken made it worse hung on the edge of that sentence.
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 2:09 pm
He nudged the filled whiskey glass over to him, waiting for him to complete his sentence.
"It's just.....?" He repeated, not letting Merric get by on what was becoming a common trait for him - incomplete sentences.
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 2:33 pm
Merric's fingers closed around the glass in an automatic gesture.
"Nothing," he said, after a moment. "I just fail to see how it's helped me, being here; all I've done so far is make mistakes."
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 2:39 pm
"What do you even consider a mistake? You seem very hard on yourself. You're human. You're young. You're new to the island. Mistakes are going to happen as you adjust to many things. I still make them." He said, looking up as their dinners were set down. Merric's plate was set before him with silverware and condiments as was Melvin's order. With a simply 'Thank you' to the waiter, Melvin started to prepare his burger.
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:03 pm
If he'd been anyone else, he might have shrugged; instead, Merric's demeanor merely was the suggestion of a shrug, his shoulders slumping slightly. His eyes were on the plate of food in front of him, not Melvin, steam rising gently from the French fries.
"I'm not so young," he said, after a moment. "Mistakes like...doing things I shouldn't, or saying things I shouldn't. Prying into things."
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:06 pm
"Well in that case..." He leaned over, offering his hand to shake. "Melvin wood. Master of mistakes. Grand champ. Three year gold medalist." He said with a smile before leaning back into his seat.
"Everyone does that. The world doesn't even. No one is perfect and no one is a movie star who has every great line on hand. You'd do better to allow yourself a moment to let these things go once in a while or sort over what is actually world ending and isn't - because we literally deal with world ending situations. It puts the other things in perspective."
He could see Merric starting to slowly go quieter and quieter, and sighed.
"Alright. Let me have it. Ask me something or pry. Say something terrible. Promise I won't bite." To which he took a bite of his burger.
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:56 pm
Merric glanced at Melvin's hand, then took it, somewhat awkwardly, looking somewhat confused at it all. He picked up his fork afterwards, but didn't eat yet, instead absently stirring the food around on his plate, not quite focusing entirely on it.
A small, humorless laugh escaped, more a stifled breath than anything else.
"It's easier said than done, letting things go," said Merric, after a moment. "You can tell yourself over and over to do exactly that, but actually doing it requires an amount of willpower that I don't have."
And that he likely never would. Merric's eyes flicked back up to Melvin, startled.
"No, I - I can't do that," he said, gaze wide. "That would be rude."
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:12 pm
"It's not rude and you'll never find out anything if you don't ask. It's me asking you to talk to me and ask me things. I've been prodding you, and I'm sure you have something on that overactive mind of yours. I'm giving permission, which is something I rarely do. I'd like this to be a even conversation, and I won't get away feeling that way if I was the only one asking you things I want to know about you to get to know you. I also don't want you getting all your information about me from Twitter." He gestured with his fork to tell him to ask him something before taking another bite.
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:51 pm
Merric was meticulously cutting up his fish into more reasonable, bite sized pieces now. Melvin had a point, or several of them, rather; but it still felt intrusive to pry, to try and drag knowledge out of someone else. He wasn't used to being allowed to ask questions; it felt somehow illicit.
"...all right," he said, after a moment. Merric paused in his cutting, trying to think, teeth worrying at his lower lip.
"Why do you hate Lysander so much?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:04 pm
"Oh that's easy. He's ungrateful to the help given to him, feels entitled to what he gets, feels he knows better than any senior hunter who tries offering him advice, and he purposely targets me because I forced him to follow me to the weapon's cove after I helped him out of the pod just because I didn't want shield-less hunters roaming the island and getting possibly killed. He seems to have a personal vendetta against me now, though I hardly consider him much of a threat. I just want to see him be humble for once." He said, wiping the corner of his mouth and taking a sip of his water.
"Why do you like him so much?"
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