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 Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 6:06 pm
The daily routine became more filled, and the company it brought wasn't unwelcomed. He already planned to have Jan move in, but America was a minor detail he worked around. Her existence here was carefully regarded and he tried his best to stay out of her way. While he had brought runic stones to help America with towns, and cleaned on occasion, but he never spoken with her above the passing questions on how the other was doing, the weather, and if anything new was happening.
Overall, America was nothing more than a stranger, once friendly and now more strange. With her relation to Jan, he wasn't so much put off with her being here as curious and unsure what to do or say (or not say) around her. She only really dampened his original plans in that he couldn't be intimate with Jan as fully as he had hoped, but it was far better to have Jan here not at all. There were times he wasn't sure if Jan was happy about the room, about Melvin, or about America, and he didn't feel inclined to push the issue either way. The point overall was Jan was happy which meant Rin was happy, and that made him happy.
That wasn't to say that America was awful. He stayed out of her way when she lounged, and she gave him an excuse to clean more often. The changes were not that large. There was a bit more hair in the shower, but he cleaned it enough anyways. The sheets and pillowcases were removed each morning and cleaned in the afternoon due to the amount of people in bed, and despite it's size, he was glad it managed 3 people. Strangely enough, he slept better cramped on one packed bed than having it to himself. The arrangement was simple. Jan in the middle, the rest to their respected side. Melvin wasn’t for switching sides.
Yet sometimes, late at night, he could close his eyes to being barely open, and in the dark and unfocused word, picture the mass of hair and curves beside Jan as someone else. The way it could be, would be, once things were better.
Soon. Soon is what Jan said. Something was coming.
That morning, he came back from runic work and set his carving case on his desk and set about cleaning. The place needed more dusting with two people, which suited him fine. The bathroom was cleaned, towels switched, and Melvin hid away his own shampoos and conditioners. (He liked it when the other pillows smelled of the products Rin had used and didn't want the two occupants ruining that small pleasure with using his.)
Then, setting the hamper down, set about cleaning Rin's side of the room. Most of the boxes were gone now aside from a few things, but her clothes were now in her closet, her books and trinkets on a shelf. Everything in it's new and proper place.
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:48 pm
She'd run that morning because it felt right. The differences were growing more distinct by the day, cracks and crevasses formed all along the surface of personality and memory that made her roughly fit into the space America Jones had left behind. It was getting so hard, the dissonance between her and her was a jarring thing, a wrong thing. And if she, herself as she was becoming, was that dissonance, didn't that make her also a wrong thing? If so, it was not news to anyone that knew, despite all Dawson's reassurances. But the body craved motion, smooth efficient perfection of muscle and limb and it was America's and that was right. It didn't make her happy. But it made her okay. A contented flatline that fit into this world without any of the violent blips that would likely resurface in a matter of hours. Okay was good enough and it was with this calm sort of peace that she entered the bedroom and flopped down face first onto the bed with a satisfied groan before making a pathetic demand for food.
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Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 6:51 pm
Melvin was lemon Pledging the bookshelves when America came in, the door clicking behind her before she walked in. She said nothing, but from her clothes it seemed she must have been training, and then she flopped on the bed.
"I....just changed the sheets." He said with a sigh before deciding he guessed he could do another load later.
Placing the dusting cloth on the wood, he started to wipe before he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her requeset for food. "What do I look like? Your maid?"
He went back to cleaning.
"There might be some leftovers from Jan's breakfast in the fridge or whatever is left. I haven't talked to any techs lately to see what I can trade with them." The few upsides of being a runic tech was that it was much easier to barter. Food, items, repairs were at least a little more accessible for him, and Jan showed that he had a strong love of fresh ingredients to work wtih. It meant that a larger fridge would have to be in order later. Boy, would that be a hard task to runic. Melvin shuddered at the very idea.
"We still have some eggs and I just brought peppers from the greenhouse. That could at least make a basic omelette."
He continued cleaning.
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Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2015 10:13 pm
"What's wrong with being a maid if you like doing maid stuff?" The clone asked mildly, inhaling deeply to fully indulge in the scent of fresh laundry.
She listened to him swiftly and gently cave to the demand without further needling and nearly snapped no to the idea of an omelet. But that was an America thing, to hold that close and place it on a mantle out of the reach of other. That was done out of love and the desperate need to hold on to every single scrap sent her way like it was a treasure. Like it was precious.
She had no such reasons and an omelet sounded good. Sounded satisfying in any number of ways. "I'd like that, Mel."
Rolling over onto her back, she smiled up at him. "Why do you like Mister Cowboy so much?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 5:41 am
He was dusting off a glass rose in his hand as he frowned. "A maid comes into someone's home to clean. It's their job. They don't have any claim to the place they clean. I live here, do this because I like my place clean, and am not a woman. I don't serve anyone here. This is just for me." He placed the glass rose delicately back on the shelf.
The question was simple, but again, he worried about saying too much to America. Considering the side effects Jan had with being intimate with her, he wasn't sure what she was or what was wrong with her. He also didn't publicly state to anyone he was WITH Jan. Even Horace didn't know. It was part of the reason he didn't publicly announce it.
"That cowboy.." America had an odd way of referring to Jan. "...is kind. He has made sacrifices for causes that didn't give him any benefits, and when I ask him things, he is direct and open about them. I don't get the impression he hides things from me. I also find him having a degree of self-respect for his appearance that's lacking with most people who seemed to give up on the island." He omitted that Jan was handsome, that he shared qualities with Rin while also being different from her and sharing his own separate, appealing features and qualities. He also found Jan's statements about feeling unable to love curious but not as a challenge but making Mel wonder if he and Jan were similar in their floundering abilities to love another person normally.
He also had certain - midnight abilities he liked.
"Aside from him getting you, what do you like about Jan?"
He set the cloth down to get ready to head to the kitchen.
"If you want to shower, I can have that omelette ready by the time you are done. It won't be like his though. I'm not a cook." Far from it.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 7:07 pm
With a groan she slowly got up and started stripping off her clothes. "I think you're underestimating what it means to have someone that understands you." The clone dropped shirt and bra on the bed, then began taking off her running shorts. "It's...I guess it's the closest I can have to a home anymore."
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 8:30 pm
He glanced back at America to see if she was getting a change of clothes before going to take a shower only to see her without a shirt and popping off her bra. He covered his eyes with one hand quickly and looked back to the shelf. "Oh - come on. Some warning, please." America was living here, but that didn't mean he needed a naked woman showing herself and then having Jan come in. What would they think then?
"Yeah. I understand I suppose. I left a great family to be here. It makes it hard to find anyone that can take their place. It makes you feel a little sick inside to say this place is home even when it doesn't feel like it. At least back home, people would throw a fuss if you died suddenly. I suppose Rin and Jan are the only home I have." They made him feel safe, and he liked that someone would notice when he came and went. It was being noticed and valued not as just someone holding a weapon but as a person that made the days a lot more bearable.
"I'm....going to go make that omelet. Please be covered when you are done."
Melvin felt his way to the kitchen nook before, sure his back was to her, he went to the fridge to see what he could make.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 8:52 pm
She let the mention of Rin go. Mel's sad brand of crazy was something, early on, she'd decided not to touch. Unlike America, the clone was perfectly happy to just...let people be happy even if it might ******** them over in the end. Horace might try to disagree on that end, but the boy needed someone to blame for the difference between his expectations and reality. Melvin was far enough from reality that who Lawrence really was wouldn't make much of a dent in it. "Thanks, Mel!" Leaving her clothes behind in a messy pile, the clone left the bathroom door open as she began to run her shower.
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:04 am
He waited for the water to start before he set to work making a simple omelette. Unlike Jan, Melvin rarely cooked, even before the island. He had been a kid who had his mom's cooking, dad's grilling, and relatives big dinners before going to college to rely on supermarkets, fast food places, and the cafeteria. Eggs he could manage, but it wasn't as pretty or gourmet as Jan's skills allowed.
A simpler egg omelet with peppers was set on the table with a plate upside down on top to keep it hot. Hot sauce was placed on the table just in case she liked that sorta thing ( Melvin always had several bottles in his apartment) and a glass of OJ also with a small lid covering the top to keep dust free from falling inside.
He then picked up her clothes and placed them in the hamper and then went back to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Sipping it, he enjoyed the sound of shower water falling in the same way one night enjoy a summer rainfall and closed his eyes as he leaned on the kitchen counter.
[/sixe]
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