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 Posted: Sun May 04, 2025 2:20 pm
One thing she would not do, everything else be damned, was let a near-miss at the end of the world and her own growing angst about the Garde derail the life that was not Joy's, but Elaine's.
She kept the two people separate in her head in a way that was possibly not entirely healthy, stubbornly refusing to let one overrule the other. She had not yet seen The Substance. Maybe, if she had, she would have had some uncomfortable thoughts.
Blessedly free from them, however, what she had was an invitation to Mel to join her in her apartment - with or without Lulu - and partake of wine, Indian takeout, and the first farmer's market strawberries of the season. And also, to hear what Elaine had managed to scrounge up in terms of dating prospects.
She had been busy - too busy - but the things keeping her busy were largely things that were keeping Joy busy. If she was going to lose sleep, she might as well be losing it for Elaine's sake.
So she waited for Mel's knock, in sweatpants on the sofa, the sliding door to the porch open with the Petitcru-protection babygate across it to let in the night air, and shuffled papers before her. It was probably overkill. But most things worth doing well, Elaine considered, were worth overdoing.
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2025 4:26 pm
Who knows how many times she'd come face to face with this truth after becoming a Knight, but after narrowly preventing the end of the world, life apparently just…went right on, her struggles be damned. Mel knew, during the numerous times the thought came to her while she was recovering, that she really shouldn't be surprised by this at this point, but. There she was, wallowing for at least a week. Maybe more. Thankfully she had the vacation days to cover it. Extra thankfully, after finally recovering (physically, anyway), she got a text from Elaine. It was a no-brainer, and the first productive thing she'd really done since regaining her independence was do a bit of research into the cobbler she promised the woman. She knocked as soon as she made it to Elaine's front door, Lulu's leash in one hand (because how could she leave her pup behind knowing how much she loved Petitcru), and a tote in the other.
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2025 4:58 pm
Elaine opened the door with a beaming smile, which was only slightly forced. Petitcru, behind her, was having a quiet breakdown of overpowering excitement at the unexpected joy of Lulu being at the door, and continued her frantic, sneezing wriggling as Elaine nudged her gently away with a foot to show Mel inside and close the door behind her. "Something smells good," she said, with an exaggerated sniffing as she gestured towards the bar for her to deposit her non-Lulu loot, encompassing in the sweep of her arm the takeout containers and forks and pitcher of tea.
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 1:27 am
Mel returned the smile, slightly forced and all. "I hope it tastes as good as it smells," she laughed as she stepped inside, Lulu trailing behind her in her own version of excited wriggling at the prospect of seeing her friend. Best friend, in Mel's opinion, because while Lulu was friendly and tended to be good with most other dogs, she'd never seen her act quite like this with any other dog she saw on a semi-regular basis. She set the tote down on the indicated bar before letting Lulu off her leash so she could greet Petitcru. Lulu's tail had gone into overdrive with the wagging as she hurried over and carefully nosed at Petitcru as soon as she was free to. "I was thinking I'd bring maybe a cobbler flight," she went on, unpacking the tote to reveal a freshly baked, Southern style cobbler. "But I didn't try as many recipes as I would have liked for that. So I went with this one."
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Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 11:45 am
"Oh, bless," she said, with genuine admiration. The usual chaos of greeting zoomies unfolded in the background as Elaine bent over to inhale. "Smells like my childhood, only better, because it doesn't have a whiff of trailer park." She straightened to move towards the freezer. "This needs ice cream," she said, as she procured a pint of it and plunked it down on the bar before going off to retrieve spoons and bowls. "But I hope you're not planning on using it as an excuse to avoid business." She wagged the spoon at her in a lecturey sort of way as she said it, giving her a serious look. "I've been putting s**t together."
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2025 8:28 pm
Mel giggled as she bobbled her head at the idea of ice cream. "Glad that worked out, then," she said, her gaze falling briefly to the two pups zooming about. She looked up at Elaine moments after her accusation, though rather than look appalled she looked…guilty. Because a part of her had been hoping she would forget. Or at least put it off for a bit longer. "Not avoid," she said, eyes again falling, this time to the cobbler. "Maybe putting off, but not avoiding. Just long enough for us to get pie and get settled?"
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2025 9:32 pm
She looked up from the process of filling up a bowl for Mel, pointing the spoon at her again, this time in a somewhat more accusatory fashion before pushing it and the ice cream towards her. "I am not going to bully you into saying yes to anyone. This isn't, like, Say Yes to the Dress, or whatever. I just have a field of candidates." And then, proceeding to fill her own bowl and then licking the spoon, giving her a pointedly casual look over it: "How many times has the bacterium been by?"
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Posted: Mon May 19, 2025 5:34 am
If Mel were a dog, her ears would have gone back when Elaine pointed the spoon at her for a second time. Still, the young woman was smiling and said a quick "thanks" in as cheery a tone as ever when Elain passed over her bowl. "Well, I'm here, right? And honestly curious what kinda list you've managed to put together." She took a bite of the pie and was chewing when the question of "the bacterium" came up. She might have choked if she was mid-swallow, but thankfully not the case. Mel looked up thoughtfully as she chewed and eventually swallowed the bite. She'd been mentally counting, and cleared her throat before replying, "Four? I think? Maybe more." She took another bite, happy for the little distraction and hoping she didn't sound as flustered as she felt. Ignoring him had been harder to do than she cared to admit. "He mostly showed up at my apartment. I answered through the little camera system thing but never opened the door. I think one time I nearly had to text you when he wouldn't leave, but he eventually did. And…at least once at school, where I told him to take a hint."
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 6:24 pm
"You've got a really generous definition of a hint," she said drily, but there was no point in revisiting contempt that Mel was already aware of. And no need of it, given that she was imbuing every word she spoke and even every bite she took, somehow, with an obvious and unveiled disgust. "But good work for not opening the door, I guess. Baby steps. Next time don't answer him through the Ring, either." She waved a hand as if to dismiss the topic, returning to her cobbler with more positive feelings. "Anyway. I made sure to throw in a couple of guys who could beat the s**t out of him for you, if you like."
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Posted: Sun May 25, 2025 11:53 am
"Baby steps," she repeated with a little laugh, more embarrassed than anything else. Elaine wasn't pulling punches, so that only dug into her even more. Which she imagined she needed, especially considering how long she'd been kept on the proverbial string. Or how long she'd been voluntarily holding onto said string? Ugh. That made it so much worse… "Oo, let's maybe start with those. Or did you want me to go in a specific order?" She was happy to move off the topic of her ex, even if the next topic was possibly finding her next…whatever. Guy. Mel took another bite of cobbler, nervous but still curious and expectant eyes on her friend.
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