[PRP] This is fine (Shiloh & Melany)

[Melancholies]

It takes Shiloh a long time before he responds to the text, because he doesn't know who the person is or what they want or what his relationship could have even been to them. Honestly, it kind of scares him, or at the very least makes him uncomfortable.


Quote:
text to: Your Fave 💖💖💖

yea im still alive lol
srry.

He sucked in a deep breath, trying to figure his words out. It wasn't like he could just ask who the hell this contact in his phone was without royally screwing up some intricately woven past-connection of his.


Quote:
text to: Your Fave 💖💖💖

alot of s**t happnd
dnt want 2 tlk abt it

Quote:
text to: Your Fave 💖💖💖

or idk maybe i should
u wanna meet up somewhre

shiiiiiibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melancholies

You jerk! You know better than to leave me hanging!!

'Your Fave' is unhappy.

Quote:

You can make it up to me by going to the Danvers mall with me.
I need someone to carry my bag.

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh visibly flinched, but thankfully he had been alone in the comforts of his room. Well, their room, since all signs pointed to the fact that him and Jamie were a lot more chummy this roll of the dice. Honestly the last thing he wanted to do today was more shopping, but it wasn't like he could say no after reaching out like this.


shibrogane
yeah...
srry its been rough. Ill b there tho
youll forgive me right

Quote:
what time???

 

[shibrogane]

melancholies

Maybe!
Probably.
I usually do, don't I?
Just be there, ok?

Quote:

2pm?

 

[Melancholies]

shibrogane
Sure Yea
dont b late looool

It was at this time that Shiloh had no actual idea how to get to this destination, having never been a mall person himself. Thank ******** god for google maps. And public transportstion. Despite the fact that the him from this world had a driver's license, the actual him had little to no experience actually being behind a wheel.

He readied himself up to head out (god forbid he was the one who showed up late) while numbing the anxiety in his stomach. He didn't even know who the hell he was supposed to be looking for, let alone anything else about the contact. Should he be upfront with them whenever he got there? Or would that just get messy? He felt guilty leaving them behind.

sigh . He'd worry about it when he got there.

 

[shibrogane]

Shiloh's nominal fave was obvious the second she showed up (stepping out of a Lyft like it wasn't even a thing) because of how familiar she was. Her features were more human--she seemed to be at least twenty years younger--but she was still, indubitably, the same Melany as had had him beaten and had bound him in servitude. She straightened her coat fussily and scanned the crowd. Her grey eyes were exactly the same. They pierced beneath her raven-black brows.

She spotted him (oh God) and bounded over. (Had Melany ever run towards anything? Ever?) "Shiloh! You jerk!" (What??) "Where've you been? You missed study group!"

Her coat had her name embroidered on it, and the logo of a ballet company.

"C'mon," she said, "we're gonna miss the good sales."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh didn't mind public transport. He did mind it when he was anxious—waiting—wondering. The ride seemed so much slower, so much longer, yet way too fast. He wasn't sure if he was ready for who he might see.

Lingering around outside of the mall complex with his nose in his phone (look busy, look casual), he definitely was not ready for the person who literally ran to meet him. Hi first reaction was to run, and his second was to lunge, and his third (the one he blessedly went with) was to remain frozen in place. The bags under his eyes from days of piss-poor sleep stood out against the paleness of his face, blood completely gone from his skin. It left him looking like a ghost.

"S-Study—" he couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't find his words. Here was Melany staring him in the face, acting like they'd known each other for literal years. Here was Melany without any of the spite. Here was Melany without any of the contempt. She didn't look at him like he was an imperfect stain on the earth. She didn't command him.

But he still felt sick to his stomach.

It didn't matter how different this Melany was. He still couldn't say no.

"T-That's, uh—" he refined himself, forced the stutter out of his voice. It was so easy to slip into old habits. "It's been hectic." He swallowed hard, "I got kinda sick..."

Not a total lie but very far from the truth.

"Who else ended up making it? To the study session I mean." he tested curiously. If Melany was here, what did that mean for court...? "Hopefully I wasn't the only one who ditched, huh..."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"The usual slackers," she said, "and you. You missed the bio final! Half the questions were about turtles, I thought of you." Half the questions had not been about turtles. But enough of them were, anyway. Melany arched an eyebrow at him, concerned but evidently brushing it off. "Sorry you weren't feeling well. You look like s**t, haven't you been sleeping?"

She patted his shoulder and strode off into the crowds, evidently just expecting him to follow her.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

This was weird. This was beyond weird. This made him sick and made him feel funny and made him want to run—but he couldn't. This made him feel guilty too, because he obviously wasn't the Shiloh she knew, just as she wasn't the Melany that had beaten and lorded over him. Exquisite beauty and absolute obedience.

It hits him at once: this Melany is obviously human.

"Not... really." He admitted, finding himself unable to lie. Unable to turn away as well, he followed her through the crowd. Then again, it wasn't even a question of sleep; it was a question of 'Yeah I just skipped an entire month of my life', but that wasn't something he could easily bring up without sounding like a raving lunatic. "But that sounds nice. About the turtles."

He forced a smile.

"Weird question," he took a deep, even breath as he completely changed the subject, eyes scanning storefront windows, "How d'you feel about magic?" At least he'd be safe if she lacked any magical inclination, whether they were 'friends' or not.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany jumped. "Shiloh! Don't!" She made a slashing motion at her throat. "People have been really uptight about it lately," she told him, falling back to walk at his side. "We're not in a good place for talking about it, either. People our age? No."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Melany jumped, Shiloh jumped. It was a chain reaction of flailing. So could Melany still use magic? Her reaction made it seem that way, and that made his stomach sink. Was she still a Noble? Was...

"Sorry, forgot." He glanced away, eyes a little duller, weariness harder to mask. When he threw his blood into the sigil, a world where magic was fear mongered was not the result that he wanted. So much for all that optimistic sunshine crap.

Instead he sighed. "Shopping, yeah? That's what we're here for." He continued to manhandle the current topic around disjointedly, focused on the crowd. "A lot of ******** up s**t happened. I'll... tell you about it later." just don't look at her face, don't, don't—

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"It's alright," said Melany, calming now that she'd secured his acquiescence. "You're having a hard time. D'you wanna just get coffee? I was gonna make you take me to Maxazria but you look so pathetic I'll buy, if you want."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"We can still go," he said out of immediate instinct, because the thought of upsetting Melany was still enough to make his stomach roll with anxiety (whether this was the same Melany or not). "Coffee is good too." Not that he was the biggest fan of coffee, but it was still okay, and he wouldn't say no regardless. "If you want." He deflected indecisively.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany shrugged. (Melany should never shrug. What the hell. It was like watching a monkey play Beethoven. Or maybe watching Beethoven sling s**t.) "I can get someone else to do it. It's not important." (What.) "Besides, you've been avoiding me, and I missed you!"

She stuck out an elbow for him to take. "Mr. Beaumont," she joked, smiling.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

(What.) was right. There was nothing about this encounter that wasn't extraordinarily bizarre. Missed him? It made no sense. Nothing about this new world made sense. It was downright cruel.

But he smiled in that tired sort of way when he took her arm regardless. Missed him. Cared about him. Was his friend. He felt guilty. He felt guilty because he wasn't the Shiloh she thought he was, just how she wasn't the same Melany he knew; she was kinder, empathetic, human—but there wasn't any way he could view her as less than a monster. They shared the same face.

It made him wonder how Jamie felt when he realized who Beel was. Doubles. Copies. Lookalikes. "I wasn't trying to." He repeated again, which was true; he hadn't meant to, that month was ripped away from him. "Coffee then? We can catch up." He'd get something with caramel maybe, try to soothe his stomach.

shibrogane