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 Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 12:04 pm
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"Nah, numbers aren't scary. You were just a puzzle. But we've solved that." He waggled his fingers at the librarian as they scooted past. Luckily, it was a guy now, who couldn't judge Horace for his quick in-and-out.
The doors clanged closed behind then, the bracing air shivering across his skin. There was definitely magic involved here, but he wasn't sure how much was magic and how much was... Melany. Horace shrugged his coat higher up on his shoulders. "Well, I hope she stays there - that other place, yeah? Maybe you should avoid your apartment for now. You said someone knows your thoughts... do you want to close your eyes while I drive? That way even you don't know exactly where you are... I can text where you are to someone you trust, too, though." Horace rubbed the side of head thoughtfully.
"I dunno, it's up to you, Melany."
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 12:38 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:59 pm
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"If I'd thought you were a burden, I wouldn't have come to get you," he reminded her. "Don't worry about it." Even though he said those words, he knew she would. The feeling of being a burden never just faded because someone said it was okay. He opened the door and gestured for her to come in.
"Pop a squat on the couch. Want any coffee or a blanket or something? Whether or not she did, he definitely could use a cup, so Horace set about brewing a quick pot. Frowning, he grabbed something from the drawer and was back into the living room. It was pretty sparsely decorated, despite the fact that he'd been living her some years. Old habits died hard, he guessed.
He set a notepad on the coffee table, a pen stuck in it's spiral binding. Just in case. "Melany, do you feel comfortable telling me about the woman following you?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:46 pm
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"Received Pronunciation," said Melany. "You know, the Brits that talk all posh? Like, not the ones who're like, oi bruv let's go for a cheeky nandos. The ones that are like Oh and would you like a spot of tea I went to an expensive private school and wear a belstaff." Her British accent, by the way, was spot-on.
Humor aside, Melany squirmed in her seat. "She told me to stay away from Shiloh, and from the police, too. I haven't told anybody... I mean I said someone was following me to someone who asked. She said that my freedom was temporary and she'd have me back under control soon." She swallowed, with difficulty, and looked at Horace's floor like it was really interesting.
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Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 5:56 pm
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He laughed. "Have you ever been to Nando's?" It was not cheeky in the least. But it had good chicken, so there was that. Horace got up to grab the coffee, plunking a cup in front of Melany with some sugars.
"Well, she needs to <******** right on off, then," he said with feeling. Melany's British accents were damn good and he had smiled a bit... before she'd gotten to the part about control. "No one owns you. And we need to figure out a way magic bitches don't grab you." He frowned.
"For now, though, you can stay here for as long as you wish, really. I've got two bedrooms I don't even use. If you don't want to stay, I'll take you someplace else, though, uh maybe not your apartment?" He chewed his lips. "Secondly, we need to figure out who she is and how to circumvent her. And... thirdly. I want you to think vaguely about the sorts of things you were doing when the other you happens. But if you feel any sort of weird pressure or anything, stop." Magical DID... if that was a thing. Was that a thing? Horace was doing a lot of frowning as he talked.
He touched the drawing. "Can I have this? I can ask around and not mention you, of course, but to see if anyone knows her."
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Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:03 pm
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"Nope," said Melany. "I've been to Hooters, though." Those were not the same thing at all, Melany. What the hell.
She took the coffee for something to do, and drank it black, because that was her way. "Okay," she said, and she pushed the notebook over towards Horace. "The problem is that once I start hearing her, I don't stop. Like, the only time I've heard her and not passed out was this one time, with Shiloh? He was scared, and he clutched my hand really tight, so tight it bruised!, and she... disappeared." Melany shrugged helplessly. "I can do all that, though. She's just... really imperious... hard to ignore."
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Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:16 pm
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Melany frowned at him. "It was a Hooters in New Jersey, okay, I've never even been to Oklahoma on a layover..." She shook her head. "She threatened to kill him," she said. "I'd rather be dead than hurt him, and she hurt him really badly, and I think just being around when she's there hurts him, and--"
Melany kind of shrunk in on herself, staring into her coffee.
"If it's okay," she said, "I would like to stay here. You can shock me if you've gotta."
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