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 Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:20 pm
Melvin stared at the worn wood of the single door and looked left, then right before he took a deep breath. He shouldn't be here. He knew he shouldn't be here. If Mother found out he went here after school....Well did she have to know everything he did? Melvin's stomach tightened and tried hard to grab tight to that string of rebellion, it wasn't even a thread, it was a string and it broke so very easily.
But he was here, and the next bus wouldn't come for a half an hour, so he might as well go inside...right? Oh god he hoped this was the right thing to do. Melvin let out a long sigh, took another deep breath, then sighed again before one pale shaking hand rose to grab the cool metal of the door knob.
His hands were clamy as he turned the door knob and opened the door slowly. The inside was a pure shock, the quality of the inside inspired opposite but twin emtions of relief and awkwardness. Melvin was horribly out of place anywhere nice, but he was allowed in any place nice. Suddenly it didn't seem like Mother would disaprove as much.
And with that though Melvin took the first few steps in, looking around before spoting the young man. With an odd mix of lord to servent and student to teacher Melvin approched him, unaware if he was 'help' or if he was...the one. The one that sent him the letter that got him in here in the first place.
The letter that said he might be important. That he had a job, a job only he could do. A person who believed he could do something important, something worth while, something...more.
"Excuse me, I-I-I'm Melvin Reynolds. I was invited here about...an offer? A job or something?" Melvin tried to sound confident, and powerful. His voice cracked and he just sounded unsure.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:25 pm
"Melvin?"
Nikita offered a slight smile to the boy, feeling a bit thrown off by the fact that someone actually seemed more nervous then him, for once. But he regained balance after a few moments, and hurriedly moved on to speak.
"Oh, yes, ah - I'm Nikita, the one who sent the letter. I'm in charge of meeting potential guardians..."
A job offer? Some people might see it that way, he supposed.
"But yes...the letter contained some basic information, but the basic idea, is that we are helping Sylph - magical beings - become human. But we need people to help us raise them, because when they become human, they become children."
He'd explained the basics in the letter, but reiteration was always good. And while Melvin was stuck in that odd mixture of uncertainty and lordship, Nikita was stuck in a similar mixture of nervousness and general shyness; he just wasn't very comfortable with people. Although it was a bit easier to talk to someone who didn't scare him.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Melvin noticed that he also seemed a little nervous, just like with Nikita it helped him relax a little too. Not a lot, he still felt uncertain and embaressed when he realized he asumed something completely different than the truth.
Stupid,stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. his mind chanted while Melvin listened intently to what he was saying. Then the young boy paled, a kid? This guy wanted her to take care of an actual child? He wasn't a parent! He wasn't even old enough to go for his permit! And they wanted him to take care of a child!?
"Wh-Why did you send this to me?" Melvin asked, holding up the letter, still in the orginal letter, which was clearly neatly opened with a letter open. There was no torn bits, sticking up irregularly. It looked almost as if he just cut the very tip of the enevelope off before sliding the letter out, then when he was done he slid it just as carefully back in.
"I'm mean....I'm just a kid. I'm fourteen years old." Melvin told the man, "I'm not...guardian material. I'm not even legal. I mean...I'm flattered of course...right? But well..." Melvin was rambling, and he knew it but...he couldn't stop. Melvin was horrible at starting things at the right time.
"I'm sorry, I'm acting werid." Melvin sighed and looked away, "I'm just confused I geuss. Why you think I would be a good person for this slif thing." Melvin blushed as he butchered the word, forgetting how to really pronouce it already.
God he was pathetic.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:04 pm
"U-um..."
Melvin was only fourteen, true...he'd known that. But his name had still popped up on Nikita's searches, so he hadn't even thought about it - just given it with the others, to the higher-ups.
"Well...to be honest, I'm really not that much older then you, despite appearances. Divinity is aware that age doesn't always have much to do with capability."
But to be even more honest, he didn't have a clue why they picked Melvin. They just told him which ones were potentials.
"In some places, where we're from, fourteen is how old some people are when they're just starting to have kids of their own, even."
Some of the more rural locations, anyway; places where life was more dangerous, and wilderness was more true. Gaia was a good bit more industrialized then a great deal of their homeland had been.
"That's probably why the higher ups didn't exclude you from the possibilities....but I hope you'll consider this."
Becaues he really didn't want to have to find another guardian, and one quite possibly scarier then Melvin; it would be nice to have one person around who didn't either scare him witless or make him nervous.
"There are some more things I think you should hear, before you make a decision."
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:35 pm
"I wasn't turning the offer down!" Melvin explaimed. Oh the idea of taking care of a kid scared him sure, but...it was excited too. It was a lot of responblity and no one had ever trusted him with that much responblity. He felt it was an honor he was chosen, he didn't want to give up the honor and Melvin was willing to work as hard as it took to prove that he was worthy of this honor.
"But...um.." Melvin blushed at his out burst and looked down at his shoes as he shifted a little, "You're right, I geuss age doesn't matter much, I was just a little curious." he admited, cursing himself. People always yelled at him for asking the wrong kind of questions. It was proably private information anyway.
"I will consider it." he finally said. It was the most dignified answer he could think of to give. One that wouldn't make him look like a bigger fool than he has to already look like.
At least the other guy seemed relaxed. It was hard to be afraid of Melvin, he took up all the fear already.
"But...yeah, I'd like to hear the information please." Melvin continued to atempt to be dignified.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:41 pm
Melvin was right; it was hard to be afraid around him. Nikita was a person used to being nervous around everyone - so it felt odd to not be afraid of someone, for once. But he really didn't feel afraid; he just still felt some nervousness about making himself look like an idiot.
"Alright, well.."
The information. Right.
"I um, I explained about the Sylphs in the letter...but the reason that we need guardians, is because there have been some complications when they've become human. The two we already have, have an enhanced sense - and a very weakened sense."
When they were little, it had required a lot of attention; Sariael had taken all of his attention, but at least she's been a sweet little girl. If he'd had to take care of Rodya, he didn't know how he would have pulled that off...
"So, they can be a little bit difficult at times. But as a plus...you get a free apartment here on the compound. The downside to that, is that you're required to live most of the year there, as wel."
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:08 pm
Melvin nodded slowly, listening to him carefully. It didn't sound that bad. The senses thing was odd. He glanced down at his own hands, trying to imagine that. Yeah he had weak eyesight but it wasn't like it was horrible. He mostly needed glasses for seeing things far away but if he lost them he could survice, he just wouldn't be able to read things from far away. He wondered what sense his child would loose...and what one would be ampliphed.
Melvin opened his mouth to ask, after running it though his head to make sure it was diginified and not stupid or anything. Luckily it wasn't. He never got a chance to ask about his child though as Nikita told him the last part of information.
"Wait! I can't move out. I-I-I live with my mother. It's a family house, it's not...like a place you move out of." Melvin tried to explain but how could he explain the Reynold's Manor. "I mean...that is...ah...Is there anyway I could just visit here a lot?" Melvin struggled to try to keep the whine from his voice. "I'll...try...to move in when I turn 18" Try being the key word, he knew his mother wouldn't like him moving out. "But I really can't move out now." he tried to explain, his eys begging for a little help.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:14 pm
"Ahh..."
Nikita rubbed at his glasses, feeling nervous again; he wasn't sure how to deal with this. Anything outside of his nice little pre-prepared information was lost to him. But he had been told that the guardians had to live on the compound.
"It's supposed to be required for guardians to live here..."
Looking back at Melvin, he felt himself wilt; the look in the boy's eyes was pleading for help.
"...I'll talk to the higher-ups, see what they say. If- if they are willing to make an exception, you'll probably have to spend as much time as possible here..."
They were not going to be happy with him. Not Melvin, no - him; he should be able to convince the guardians to live here. But he had difficulty convincing dogs to let him pet them, much less convincing humans of something.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:25 pm
Melvin visably relaxed, he gave the man a soft smile. As if he understood the plight of being at the bottom of the foodchain and having no where else to go. Making expections were not how Melvin liked to start realtionships but...he couldn't move out. Mother would never let him move out without her and she would never live anywhere but the Reynolds mannor.
For a moment Melvin thougha bout moving out. A small cramped apartment, with mismatching furniture and breaking appliences. A room he decorated himself and not enough space in the kitchen where he would cook for himself...
It sounded like paradise. That's the type of house where diginity wouldn't matter, where you could relax without worring someone will catch you and tell you to sit straight, and smooth out his clothes and...Melvin blushed as he realized his train of though and shook his head before glancing to Nikita again.
"I'm sorry to make you do this, but I just can't move out. I'd like too but...my mother..." He trailed off, not really sure how to finnish the sentence after he mentioned his mother. One might notice that Melvin paled a little and looked like he was in pure misery.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:41 pm
Resigning himself to getting yelled at (yet again), Nikita offered Melvin a faint smile, "...I'll see what I can do."
It didn't sound like the boy had much of a choice, anyway; if the higher ups wouldn't relent, he had a worrying feeling they'd have to find a different guardian. Or perhaps they would talk to the boys mother?
"If they won't concede...I'll see if they will be willing to discuss it with your mother."
Nikita wasn't about to offer himself up for that chore; he couldn't convince a kid, much less an apparently frightening mother. He would leave scary mothers up to the higher ups.
"But yes, um...are you willing to accept guardianship, if we can work things out with the higher ups?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:52 pm
Melvin didn't like that idea at all. He glanced around and then gave a helpless shrug, "I geuss you could talk to her." he said slowly, but the way he voiced it it sounded like a warning. Don't talk to her if you want to keep your life. That's how Melvin felt. His mother was unbending, she'd never let him move out and she would never move out herself, certainly not for an apartment.
Reynolds were above apartments.
"Ah well....I would like..." Melvin paused at that question, he nibbled his bottom lip and looked around franticly for a moment. As if the answer was writen somewhere. One pale, slightly shaking, hand straightened his glasses before he took a deep breath.
"Yes."
There he did it. He comited himself. He made a promise, gave his word, and Reynolds never went back on their word. For a moment Melvin felt better. He wanted this kid, he couldn't say why but he really did and finally he did something he wanted and...it felt good.
Melvin gave a small smile.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:59 pm
"I'm glad to hear that."
Nikita's smile turned far brighter at this, with relief that he wouldn't have to find another potential. And not only that, this potential - or rather, this guardian - wasn't scary. That didn't happen often.
"Now, um...there isn't really much we can do just yet. The Sylph we were thinking of for you is still in the process to change to human, so she hasn't actually been born yet...there's some paperwork, but I can mail that to you."
There was paperwork for everything: it was the third bane of his existance. The second was people in general, and the first was Dmitriev.
Especially after a certain job he'd had to participate in, that had wound up involving him crossdressing...not a memory he particularly wanted to recall.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:11 pm
"Now that Melvin had agreeded he couldn't stop smiling, he liked this, liked this feeling and this relif. He did something right. No amount of evil glares, or stern talkings from Mother could destory that. He...had taken his first step to being a man. He could feel it in his heart.
"Okay, that sounds fine. May I see my...Slyph?" Melvin paused to try to remember the words as they had talked. He felt more confident this time that he said it right than last time where he knew he butchared it. he better learn how to say it right, after all he was getting one.
"Also...may I ask what his heightened and lowered senses are?" Melvin asked, starting to feel pretty good about that. Four whole sentences without making any mistakes, and one firm descion that his mother didn't have any say in.
Melvin was glad that he decided to follow the letter. He had made the right choice, very rare for the mousey little boy.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:26 pm
"I'm afraid that the only ones allowed to see the Sylphs during the process are the ones working on it...they worry that ambient energy from other people would disturb the process."
It was very delicate, Nikita knew. As for the ambient energy - everyone carried magical energy within them. If you didn't have any, well...you couldn't exist; it was what tied everything together. When a researcher was assigned to helping make a Sylph human, they stayed in that room unil the job was done, because they didn't know if the energy levels fluctuating would damage the Sylphs.
"But I can tell you the senses, yes. Um, just let me check my notes..."
Clicking through some things on his laptop, Nikita found what he was looking for, after a few moments.
"Because of the discussions and work with the Sylph in question beforehand, we are able to discover the senses. Your Sylph...enhanced sense of touch, and a limitation of taste."
The limitation didn't seem too bad, to Nikita; touch was probably the one that worried him the most, since those children wouldn't even realize if they were hurting themselves, in all likelihood.
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:31 pm
"Oh." Melvin's good mood vanished that fast. He made a mistake, he shook his head. It didn't matter, the point was that the child would be his when he was ready. Melvin just asumed it was a guy. He didn't even consider getting a little girl.
"That doesn't sound too bad. Lost of Taste, um...so do I take anything home?" Melvin asked and glanced at the fancy watch on his wrist. "I kind of need to go home. Mother expects me to be home by four." he explained and knew he was cutting his time close. he needed to go with in the next few minutes to catch his bus and make it home on time.
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