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 Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 2:30 pm
"Have you been to towns much?" He asked, walking down the path with Merric towards the bar. The sun was setting and the clouds above grew darker with each passing minute. Luckily there wasn't much wind, and Melvin held a umbrella over both of them, keeping close to Merric to make sure he stayed dry.
As they approached the bar, he held the door open for him to enter, shaking off the umbrella and closing it as he followed behind Merric.
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 4:17 pm
He was approximately sixty-three percent sure that this was a bad idea.
"I haven't been to the towns at all," said Merric, absently tugging his shirtsleeve down, adjusting the cuff that didn't need to be adjusted. It was cold and wet and rainy outside; the perfect weather to mirror the confusing tangle of emotions he was still resolutely ignoring.
He stepped inside the bar with a decidedly apprehensive look on his face.
"Are you sure he's not going to just...throw me out?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 4:45 pm
"There isn't too much in towns unless you want to start a home or business of your own." He admitted, leading them over to a booth as he set the umbrella by the door. No point in dripping water throughout the bar.
"Rep and Harrison made this business. He's not going to risk running it into the ground on the bases of just being pissed at people. It will be fine. It's not like he's gonna kill you." He said with a little laugh, and then went abruptly silent. "He wouldn't." He said as he cleared his throat.
Moving to a booth, he slid into it and reached over for two menus, handing one over to him. It was typical restaurant fare. Burgers. Sandwiches. The like. "Pick whichever you like. It's a blessing to get decent food on this island so don't hold back on my account."
He pulled off his coat and set it neatly beside him.
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:10 pm
Merric brushed a stray drop of rain from his cheek and padded over to where Melvin had indicated, hesitating only a moment before he slid into the booth, somewhat awkwardly rearranging himself to try and sit properly. "I don't really have any interest in a home of my own, but I suppose Lysander and Roswell would be when it comes to a business," he said absently, glancing around the bar. "Sam as well could benefit, I believe she has a brother here somewhere."
He thought he recalled the conversation on Twitter with that Dean kid. Merric took the menu gingerly and glanced down at it, twisting his fingers together.
"I was admittedly a little surprised to hear that Rep had a husband," Merric admitted. "He's...extremely volatile."
And a thousand other things he refrained from saying in mostly polite company.
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:17 pm
"They are good together. Harrison has a very sobering effect. It's proof that there is someone out there for everyone, and they are lucky enough to have found that person on the island. The dating pool gets restricted once you can't date anyone who isn't a hunter." He said, turning a page and looking things over. He could have said Rep actually had 2 husbands, but there was no need to pull out that information especially since it was all in the past. That and any evidence of past volatile incidents.
When the waiter came, he smiled. "Whiskey please, and a water." He said, and turned to let Merric order.
"So a entire group ready to start a business. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it. We could use more distractions on the island, and it's nice to see the towns be more than just rubble. Sam is....a friend to just you or to the group as well?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:27 pm
He tried to comprehend this, especially considering what he'd seen of Rep, which was admittedly limited to the various - and unpleasant - Twitter encounters. "I suppose that's...sort of true," said Merric, after a long moment. "But I haven't very much seen evidence of a great deal of happy couples here yet, or perhaps I just don't get out much."
The latter was especially true. Merric glanced at the waiter and said, "Ah - s-same, please," his mind elsewhere as he glanced over at Melvin.
"She's a friend to all of us, she's a very adept woman," said Merric. "Granted, I've only got a few certain memories of her from the island, but she's still quite capable."
He toyed with the edges of the menu. "I don't quite know what'll become of any business here, but I'd rather have something to focus on than spend all of my free time be useless."
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:38 pm
He raised a brow a moment as Merric also ordered whiskey but didn't say anything as he regarded the menu again, taking his glasses off to clean them of some drops of rain with a shimmering sea handkerchief whose waves actually moved, and little golden coins on the fringe.
"I'll have to meet her sometime. She sounds like a kind woman, and I respect your judgement."
He placed his glasses back on, this time not wearing googles, and resumed reading the menu. "It can be frustrating when not doing work to find little to do here and then feeling as if you aren't using your time wisely. Many people take up projects. In Life, a lot of time is spent working on funded projects whenever someone isn't hogging any of the labs." He grumbled the last part.
"I've also taking up diving. Still, I've been looking for new ways to occupy my time now that I have a bit more of it, and you can only do runic work so long before your eyes feel as if all they see is blue."
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:51 pm
Merric's gaze moved instinctively to the glittering gold coins on the handkerchief, frowning a little, brow furrowed in thought. "Yes," he said absently, "Yes, you should."
It wasn't clear which exactly he was referring to, since Merric's judgement was, at best, not entirely sound as of late. He let his gaze wander back to Melvin's, though his eyes swayed away after only a second, as though looking was hard to hold.
"What exactly do you do when you dive? I'm not so sure I would want to go into the ocean, I've heard it's dangerous."
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 6:09 pm
"Oh, it is dangerous to an extent, I wouldn't go now of course. Not with how the golem attacks have been lately. No. But before all you have to deal with is some occasionally hostile sea-life, mermaid, or sentient kelp. Aside from that, there are many caves under the island that hold special stones for runicing. They can be purposed into charges for weapons during battle and others are used for runic batteries that can charge devices. After a while you get good enough you can get advice and practice to be a runic master, and start runicing things for yourself, but honestly I just like being underwater. I used to be on the swim team in high-school and into college." He looked at the menu, eyes un-focusing. " I like the ocean. It's one of the few places I can relax......."
He set the menu down as he noticed the waiter approaching. "I also am researching Atlantis as well, though if I can now I'm not so sure." He sighed before looking up as the waiter returned with their drinks. "Have you decided what you want to eat?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 6:54 pm
Merric wasn't so sure he was interested in hostile sea life, mermaids, or sentient kelp. He wasn't even sure he was interested in water as a general rule, oceans had always intimidated him on a variety of levels, and he was quite satisfied to stay far, far away from them now.
"Well, having a hobby is good, I suppose," said Merric distractedly, still looking around the bar. He felt ill at ease, somehow, perhaps simply because of the location - though a part of him hadn't forgotten how awkwardly he'd acted the last time he'd talked to Melvin.
No, he wasn't thinking about that.
"I'll - I'll take the fish and chips," he said, startled into a decision, because it was the first thing he saw on the menu. "I'll have to look into runic things, at some point..."
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:15 am
He ordered a burger and fries before handing the menu over. Now fully invested in Merric, he picked up his whiskey and took a drink.
"I wouldn't mind if you ever wanted to go on an accompanied dive or visit me in the runic department. I like the company when I work and it woukd keep Cynthia off my case to watch another tv series she just bought."
"So, what kind of hobbies do you do in your free time?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 4:56 pm
Merric wrapped fingers around his own glass of whiskey, not really looking at it, more just needing to do something with his hands. His other curled fingers against his palm, resting on his knee beneath the table, and without the menus he was forced into putting his attention elsewhere.
"Perhaps not diving, but the runics, maybe," said Merric, and then, "Who's Cynthia? I'm afraid that name is unfamiliar to me."
He glanced around instinctively as he heard the door to the bar open, but it was just a random hunter passing through. Merric's eyes flickered back to Melvin, trying to calm himself down, though it didn't seem to be working. He lifted his glass and knocked back the whiskey entirely in one swallow, coughing only a little, Merric's hand rising to wipe at his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I - read, a lot," he said, voice slightly hoarse as he dropped his hand again. A finger tapped against the now empty glass. "And I - I like um, the minipets, those are fun to look at. I also do a lot of research, when I can, and I enjoy taking walks, and nature..."
Minus oceans. Merric trailed off, feeling, not for the first time, quite dull.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:35 pm
Merric was nervous. Even someone as dense as Melvin at times to pick up on things could see his entire demeanor screamed it. The moving hands, his eyes flickering at any noise, the way his eyes darted to the door when someone entered, and how his speech wandered. When he knocked back the whiskey, Melvin's eyebrows rose up and he smiled, honestly impressed he could take it down in one swallow without coughing too loudly. Merric didn't strike him as a experienced drinking but he drank like he had years under his belt. It helped that the whiskey he ordered was smooth.
As he talked, Melvin's eyes went to the finger tapping against his glass.
"She is just some tech in the demolition department who likes to wander departments instead of doing her job." He answered.
"Can you help me with something?" He said, and he opened both of his hands out, palms up. "Can you set your fingers atop mine for just a moment?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:58 pm
He could still feel the burn of the alcohol down his throat, Merric resisting the very strong urge to cough again. He did not, under any circumstances, want to be seen as weak or emotional or sappy yet again in front of Melvin, of all people. It had already happened once, and once was plenty.
He gave a nod to the explanation of Cynthia, then gave Melvin's face a quick, startled glance, before he looked down at Melvin's hands, brows drawing together.
"Why...?" Merric asked slowly, but he forced himself to relax, cautiously extending both of his hands out and letting them hover over Melvin's, barely touching at all.
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Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:20 pm
He smiled back. "I'm not going to bite you or hold your hands hostage. Can you trust me for just a moment. I promise they are very clean." He said, and motioned with his chin for Merric to lower them. "Humor me for just a minute."
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