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 Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 7:21 pm
Melvin had contacted Jan a few days later after dropping off the requested items. He wanted to give the man time to absorb what he needed from the items, and spent that time pacing the greenhouse wondering if they were any help, is the death hunter had any visions or whatever mediums had from Rin, and what Jan might personally think of what he saw - which was everything.
They walked down the path in relative silence, with Melvin not saying much of anything as he tried to avoid direct eye contact. He was waiting for a comment. He was waiting for a question. He was waiting for a remark that would cut him too deeply to his exposed core that he would never be prepared to answer.
"Just amoment." He said, jiggiling the key in the lock before opening the door.
Melvin was already in motion to take off his jacket as the wave of humidity took over. It was getting slightly cooler outside, but inside the greenhouse was always warm. He wondered if he would have to bring in a heater if the weather ever got serious here. Without the fog, he just wasn't sure how things would be different.
"This is her greenhouse. She spent almost every hour here. Woke up early each morning to tend every plant here. She picked and planted everything." He said, shutting the door behind him before moving over to place his jacket on one of the chairs by a few wooden tables. He had his lab tablet and binders from work here, spread out neatly. He folded up the bed cot and already hit id away along with his things. Jan might have seen everything about him, but he didn't need to know he was living here.
He was already embarrassed enough.
"I thought, maybe this could help?" He said, looking over at him and unsure if he was even being useful.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 7:58 pm
Everything about Jan seemed calm at all times, a patient sort of serenity that expressed itself in every single gesture he made. As they walked, he did not try to make conversation, content to wait until they were at their destination and out of earshot of anyone else who might try to ruin what he had here.
Inside the greenhouse it was surprisingly warm, a small slice of eden stowed away from the rest of the island. He found himself thinking that there would not be pests here the way there might have been in other places, most animals seemed to die without the twisted link they all dealt with day to day.
"Yes." he said. "She mentioned plants, they seemed important. I understand a little more now why that was. This is wonderful." Slipping off his own coat he looked around before offering it to Melvin to put somewhere, trusting that he would find somewhere it wouldn't get dirty, it was the most pristine white, down to the trim and he was aware how much of a danger a greenhouse could be to white fabric. Without his coat he made his way to the plants, not touching anything, simply moving between them, he breathed in and the scents mingled in his senses, heightened and intensified beyond what he could recall experiencing.
The video he'd been given had been enlightening in many ways, and he'd taken the time to dredge up a few declassified mission reports written by the lady herself. "She was a dichotomy wasn't she? Calm and organized, yet fiesty and crude. Caring with the plants and yet, wild in a fight and in other more intimate places."
He kept his eyes closed, his posture shifting in uncanny fashion, more feminine, a subtle c**k of a hip, imitating what he remembered from his encounter with the huntress and the video he'd watched. "She is here right now." he said. "She is with us through me. I can lend her my eyes, my self. She remembers these plants. She remembers you, of course."
He looked over the place. "She says these didn't used to be here." he pointed at the binders. "And she says you spend too much time here, that it was her place, that you are holding on too hard, that if you don't let go just a little, you won't be able to reach her, you need to be strong, of mind and of body."
His expression hardened a little and his false accent fell away into a strange approximation of Rin's speech. "You need to stop crying Melvin, you can't be weak this time. I need you to come and get me! You are the only one who even cares." he faltered. "Rep cared but he doesn't believe. Not like you do, so you are my only hope. Do as Jan tells you, he's good people."
Melvin got a bright intent look. "I really miss you. I miss having someone to touch, even if...well. You know. I still miss it. And I miss you."
And like that his posture seemed to resume its regal bearing and the accent returned. "Wow pardner. I did not expect that. Did she say anything? I was so goshdarned out of it during that daze. She's very strong, feisty. The living ones always are."
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 9:09 pm
"She always loved plants. She had a garden growing up. I think it was the only thing she really enjoyed in her life before Deus. She had to request this greenhouse, and it was a dump before she came and fixed it. I only took her directions and helped where I could, but she always knew far more about plants than I did. I only helped her with her project since it was so much to take on, though she probably could have done it all on her own. She did all the planting for….um…well you..reasons." He was sure Jan knew already by now with the video, but he didn't want to just come out and say it. Even in the privacy of the greenhouse, it wanted to leave it as unspoken as he could with a silent understanding that it was there.
"They have all grown this much because of her, and she was going to install a lot more. I've been taking care of them as best I could in her care. It's..part of the reason why I'm here all the time. I'm worried her project might fall into disrepair and her plants will suffer due to neglect."
He looked over to the binders, and he stepped over to bring them all together, cleaning up as best he could even when it wasn't even a mess. He piled them all together.
He could feel her here, hear her tone, and as Jan spoke, it felt she was here scolding him, keeping him from holding too tightly to everything he wanted to control and keep to its distance. Everything tidy and in its place.
But this time it wasn't him imagining her here to keep him company, making up conversations when she couldn't hear him.
But now she could.
He turned to Jan, but reacted as if Rin was here. "Tell her I'm also…….."
And his hip turned out, his body slacked, and he watched Jan turn his posture to something from before, to the posture he was only just now getting to associate with the man.
And her voice was here through his, as best as it could be from another body and chords, but he took in the words and gave them her voice, translating them to her image and tone.
He gasped and stepped closer.
"I'm…I'm trying." He wanted to let her hear him. He wanted to say so much.
You can't be weak this time…
It made him hurt knowing that she knew his own weaknesses, that she knew that she had to protect him.
She knew he was weak.
She probably always knew he was weak.
I'm such a weak piece of s**t.
"I'll do whatever you want. I'll be stronger. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Rin! I'm sorry I was weak and made you prote-"
And then she was gone, and he was left in mid-sentence, hands out to touch her, touch him, before he stepped back, letting his hands curl in and then slide down to his sides.
It had been so short.
Had she even heard him.
Yes…..yes. She..She had to have heard me.
His stomach felt tight, and his throat hurt.
"Y…yeah. She said…I had to let go a little. That I was holding on too hard. To not be weak…..to listen to you." He said slowly, and then looked to the binders.
"I guess I shouldn't stay here in the greenhouse. Just visit."
That meant going back to his room again.
Their room.
He looked back at Jan. "Does she…come to you a lot?"
"I guess….being in a daze is like a dream." He wished he could dream and see her again.
He looked at Jan's stump a moment and then looked away again.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 4:33 pm
Lawr noted everything that Melvin had to say and filed every bit of it away. He made no comment on the other man's habits, finding them admirable in some ways, he respected cleanliness, even the obsessive sort.
When it was all over her smiled. "Yes, you shouldn't linger here, she said that it is stressful for the plants even last time I spoke with her. They need their rest too, and you need yours."
He shrugged. "She has been coming often, more often since I spoke with you. The spirit world is quiet here so I hear her voice very clearly against it." The pale man had noted the glances at his missing hand and around Melvin made less effort than usual to keep it out of sight. "And yes it is sort of like a dream, she borrows my body. It is easier the more I get to know her and also the more I get to know you."
He looked away. "She is. Very. Vocal about intimacy." He flushed a little. "Was she always very sexual?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:06 pm
"She would say that about the plants." She had the mentality that they were sentient and was animate about them when she would talk to him at night about her project. He didn't get plants. To him, they were living as far as plants could go, but outside of providing resources, he didn't think he'd be holding a meaningful conversation with one anytime soon.
With Rin contacting Jan, he guessed she would tell him a lot about plants. A lot about them too, apparently. She was always more talkative than he was, more tactful, and he felt jealous that she was saying that much to Jan when he was hungry just for a few words.
"Yeah. She's always been that way as far as I knew." He said with a bit of an embarrassed laugh, running a hand through his blonde and white hair and then rubbing the back of his neck.
She had been more open to a lot more and it was her openness and her wild sexuality that often made him feel guilty that he could not match her level without becoming frustrated or stopping.
He let his hand drop to his side again.
"She has a….extensive collection of things to prove it." Which were now in his care under their bed.
He took off his goggles to wipe them with a handkerchief. "I guess it's what makes it harder to go back to our room. The greenhouse is just…more bearable." It was easier to sleep here.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:21 pm
"It's an admirable way to be." he said. "I have always been more on the reserved side, as things go I tend to be more on your side of interests. It is, rather... well it is certainly something to have Rin in my thoughts when she is here."
He laughed. "And yes she did mention those. I explained I would be rather intimidated in your position. She is very frank." It was simple to reply as he was expected to reply and to tease out more and more from the blonde man.
"Well she was very outspoken about the greenhouse. She was very ...stern. About you getting your life back together, she wants your help but she also wants you to stop moping around like this. You need to be strong to help her, and erm." he looked distant. "She says and she doesn't mean strong like Rep, she means strong like you. I'm not certain what that means."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:32 pm
He had to smile at that. "Yeah, I can only imagine what it's like to have her in your mind. It's one thing to have a weapon when they are never a person, but to have my girlfriend there must…." He let his smile face as he thought about it before giving a short ahem to clear his throat.
"She is pretty open about things, but I guess in this case it's helping us. She's a very strong person too. Its why I knew she was still here. Around….somewhere." Someone as strong as he wouldn’t have been so quick and easy to just……..go.
He went quiet as she went into specifics, and he fell silent when Rep was mentioned.
He would never be strong like Rep, but she didn't have that option. Not when Rep didn't care or believe her.
He could only be as strong as he was, and he didn't feel that strong.
But he had to be.
"It's…..just a …long talk we had before. About her ex." He was sure Jan knew about Rep to some degree if Rin was being this vocal with him, and the fact that Jan even brought Rep up was just further proof.
"I'm trying for her….I mean, I will. I will be there for her. I'll do whatever she needs." If that meant moving out of the greenhouse and back to his dorm, he would have to deal with that.
"I'll leave her garden. Noah can take care of it until she returns. If you …can tell her that."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:43 pm
"It isn't so bad." he said with a smile. "She certainly flusters me, but she can be very funny when she wants to be in her frankness. It is a ray of sunshine, even in her present predicament, she is keeping optimistic, and yes, she certainly isn't leaving any time soon either." Jan seemed to have brightened up a lot, some side effect of the moment he had let Rin possess his body.
"She wants to speak to you again." he said, looking pensive. "It is very taxing on my body to channel someone so many times, but I will see if I can manage it again."
His breathing slowed in concentration and once again he was emulating Rin, his posture shifting once again and his voice altering. He even tossed his head slightly as if moving loose hair out of his face. His good hand sunk to his hip.
"Melvin." he said, and it was slightly exasperated. "You can help with the greenhouse, you just don't need to live here. Help Noah if you want to, you don't need to do it as if its some tribute to my ******** memory because I'm right here."
His expression softened slightly. "You are who I need right now, not Rep. You know what Rep is like, he won't believe any of this, especially not with Harrison telling him its all made up. And even if he did believe it, its not Rep I want. Its you." He rolled his eyes. "You are the one I love the most."
And this time he let the act linger long enough that Melvin could reply, feeling daring enough to let it.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:03 pm
He felt bad he was using his only connection to Rin too much when Jan only recently agreed to helping him, but before he could ask if that was a good idea, Jan's body was already slipping from this reality to let Rin take over. It was strange that all this time Rin was this close, just past some supernatural veil that only Jan could currently move aside.
It was as if she was hovering close to the man at all times, a shadow waiting to fill in the space back in his life.
When she came, she came back to scold him, but even that made him brighten and step over to her, not wanting to miss the opportunity.
He wanted her here. He wanted to keep her near, and he reached for Jan's wrist, looking directly in the man's eyes to where Rin.
"I will. I will. It's hard not having you here in our room. I'll leave it to Noah and keep helping. I was never any good with this stuff anyways. I just didn't want this place dying without you here."
He squeezed her hand gently, standing close to her, but not knowing how to proceed. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to show he still cared and loved her.
Gently, he reached up to touch her cheek. "I love you too. I won't ever leave you until you get back home. We'll get you back home. I promise. "
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:15 pm
"I'm glad its still intact Melvin, I appreciate it. But it's you I'm most worried about, not the plants." he said, but it was uncanny, there seemed to be nothing at all left of the psychic's mannerisms, everything was different, even down to a relaxation of his features, less severe and serious than they had been, mimicking instead a subtle weary fondness.
"And its still our room, even if I'm not here. I don't want you to just let it slip into disrepair, but I'm there, I'm in the room with you, even when you can't see me, and I'll be there properly when I get free, when the door opens." Not-Rin reached up to touch the hand at their cheek. "I miss you Melvin. It's really ******** lonely here. Jan showed me that video we made too, I miss that. I miss you."
A brief flicker of concern crossed the pale features. "I need to go soon, I know he can't keep this up for too long. I just. I wanted to talk to you. To feel you, even if it was just like this."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:23 pm
"I miss that too. I miss us right now." He whispered to her, and even though it was Jan here, he only focused on these eyes, imagined the body that he remembered even if he had witnessed it burned to ash and buried. This was her and that's all that mattered.
Panic flashed through his eyes as she said she had to go, and he was reminded of the host and how it was straining him.
But that didn't matter as much as Rin staying for just a little longer.
"Wait...Just..." He reached up, cupping her head softly.
"Remember, I'm here for you too. When you're lonely. I'll be waiting for you."
And he kissed her goodbye.
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:55 pm
This at least he had studied, the video had given him a glimpse into intimacy and he mimicked it as best he knew how, returning the kiss. His lips tasted like an unusual and slightly exotic lip balm, and most of all he tasted clean, his dental hygiene as fastidious as the rest of him. Melvin was pulled into an embrace the flowed naturally from the gesture, yet one that under the surface was as controlled and planned as everything else.
When the kiss parted naturally, he smiled as Rin before stepping back and light, sloughing off a skin, resuming his old posture and accent. He looked a little worn out by the experience but smiled nevertheless.
"I hope speaking to her helped, at least a little." he said. "I am only sorry I could not give you longer with her today. But there will be other times, and like I said, the nearer I get to you and her, the stronger I will be, and by extension, the link with her."
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Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 7:08 pm
He closed his eyes, welcoming her and feeling every part of him aching for her again. The taste was not like her though, as the lip balm was not her brand, but it was just as soft as hers, and the taste was still clean.
It wasn't her brand of toothpaste though, but the fact it was still evidently maintained reminded him of all the little ways she had always kept herself pristine for his sake. For their sake, just so they could have moments like this without interrupting.
Except for this time, there were time limits. This time, it wasn't him having problems that kept them from continuing, and for once he was left on the other end more eager and willing.
She was gone all too soon, and he was left looking at Jan, feeling warm, his chest tight as his heart expanding as he took a deep breath.
"It was good. …thank you. I'm sorry for making you go in again. It's helping me….us a lot. I'll repay you any way I can if I can make it easier on you."
He realized he was still this close and stepped back, feeling warm about his ears as he turned to the side.
"Do……you remember anything when she comes in?" He asked, not able to look him in the eye just yet.
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:53 am
"It is no problem. I am able to handle much worse. Rin is feisty but she is not cruel." He smiled. "She leaves a refreshing optimistic sensation in her wake. It is pleasant." He crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Well I would not ask anything of you, everything is strictly optional. But perhaps a trip off island at some point, a meal or something and the honour of your company might be interesting. Delicious food is a very good way to reinvigorate myself for a channeling session."
"As for the channeling itself, I do remember faintly what happens, very faintly. I do not object to any of it though. In my line of work you give up your body to those who have none of their own or who - as in Rin's situation - do not have access to their material body at present."
His smile turned up a little further. "You have exceptional taste in toothpaste, if I might give you my compliments."
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:41 pm
"I wouldn't object to that either. You said it would help you channel better after all and I want to make this all easier on the both of you. You're giving your time, listening to us, making so much just - just possible. You've already done more to help just by believing me than my supposed friend has."
Jan was the only person who believed in Rin and didn't think Melvin was wrong for what he was doing. Right now, that mattered more than anyone else had done for him.
Right now, Jan was all he could believe and trust in.
The channeling did seem to leave with Jan a faint memory, which confirmed some of his fears. Frozen, he took another step back and rose his hands in apology. He went over the line.
" I'm so sorry about that. It's just... It's been a long time since we talked and she seemed so lonely. We've both been and I just wanted Her to know that .... That I was here. But I didn't mean for - I should have remembered you were here and .. I got carried away. I overstepped my boundary with this." He apologized , flushed at Jan's compliment.
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