[PRP] That's... not how you use chopsticks (Shiloh & Melany)

[Melancholies]

There was a lot of weird s**t going on. Shiloh was kinda determined to get to the bottom of it, but it was also hard when your supposed best friend was like your past abuser and they didn't know anything about it. It was even more awkward when they were apparently reported missing despite being... not missing.


shibrogane
text to: YOUR FAVE 💖💖💖
hey, so
rmember the othr day
i said i would get bck 2 u



Quote:
text to: YOUR FAVE 💖💖💖
i figured we could like
go somewhre???
u pick. u bought last time so
i can grab it ths time lol
if you want

 

[shibrogane]

Melancholies

to: SHY-LOH!!!!
omg!
SUSHI
were so going to sushi
dress nice nerd!!!

She even included a pin and the Yelp page. Bistro Anju.

She met him there, her hair tucked up on top of her head, eyelids brushed with something blue that sparkled in gold tones. "I still got this one," she said. "I picked. I dunno, I just wanted to do something nice with you! I feel like no one's been talking to me lately except you."  

[Melancholies]

Did... did Shiloh have anything that looked nice? He honestly wasn't sure.

After a quick cursory look into his closet, he found out that yes, he did have nice clothes for once. He could only assume they were because the other him and the other jamie (othermie? otherloh...) had a little more money to their name and an already substantial relationship, so they probably did the wild willy date stuff every now and again. At least, he assumed that was why.

Okay, shirt without offensive garbage (check) nice jacket (nice... ish jacket check) everything else relatively the same (check). It was probably as nice as Shiloh was going to get. He was secretly thankful he wouldn't be grabbing the bill, because it looked way too ritzy for his tastes. Melany was way too ritzy for his tastes.

A few bus hops, some walking, some creative finagling... he made it there eventually. Was he ever going to get used to a Melany that was a good few inches shorter than him? Probably not, no. Nor would he ever get used to the caps, or the excitement, or the genuine will to want to do things with him like it was no big deal.

"Really?" He tilted his head, something vague and standoffish still in the back of his eyes, but he was doing okay so far. No panicking. "That's kinda weird." This coming from 'I also blew you off for a few weeks Shiloh Beaumont'.

"Here, we can talk more inside." He was kinda starving... "But y'know, I can grab at least half the bill. I offered to pay first." This was going well, no awkward pausing, he had this. It was cool.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I mean, if you want." Melany led the way inside, shucking her jacket and carrying it over one arm. Now she was dressed like the fearsome Spinel Lady: her dress was a warm pearl-gray, the front a cascade of ruffles that accentuated her athletic figure. Also, her shoes were cute. "Don't feel like you have to, though. That flower shop's a nice place to work I guess but it's not a professional job, is it?"

They got seated and Melany said, "It is kind of weird. Sometimes I wonder if my cell service has got turned off. It better not have, I'm still paying for it."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Hey, it's totally professional. If you stopped by you'd see just how professional it is." He rolled his eyes. "I'm just sayin' I offered."

He tried to ignore how uncanny she was to the old Melany; his Melany. It made sense though, right? They were both Melany, so... his head was starting to hurt again. He suddenly felt severely under dressed, but he shook it off. "That's really weird though." He reiterated. "So it's like, everyone? I mean I obviously texted you, so I guess it's still on..." Surely Melany still would have her own little friend groups and whatever, right? She had mentioned the study group, and she seemed a lot more outgoing than he was.

He pursed his lips.

"There's been a lot of weird stuff happening lately though, I guess..."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I don't know what to do about it, really," said Melany, who didn't seem bothered by Shiloh's attire. Guys had a lot more leeway than girls, anyway. "I thought it was just that everyone was on break, you know? But I guess not. At least my coworkers are still talking to me. Though I haven't got any hours at Equinox lately, either..." She pillowed her chin on her knuckles and sighed. "It's weird."

Melany brightened, then. "But how're you doing? How's Jamie?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Maybe bring it up to Eve? I mean, hell, I could." He leaned back against the booth, thinking for a moment, "I've talked to her a few times anyway." And by the looks of it he'd be talking with her a few more times.

He waved his hand when the attention was turned on him. "All... right I guess." He shrugged. "Better at least. Just normal school-job-everything else stress. Jame and I went out for Valentines I guess so that was nice." He glanced around. It was actually kinda nice to talk about this sort of stuff? Even if he was weirded out by who he was telling it too. Greatly weirded out.

But he had some more information now. He knew about things from Noeh, knew some things from Jeremiah and Jamie and by proxy Pride. He leaned his elbows forward on the table ungracefully.

"You? Practice, practice, practice?" He recalled the text message and her mention of it. A waiter came by and dropped off some menus, to which he quietly thanked them.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I need the job? I just like the employee discount, and Ezra's usually there." She reached over and patted his hand, picked up a menu on her way back. "Yeah, I do a lot of practicing," she laughed, "I have to, if I want to get to prima ballerina before I'm too old.

"What did you and Jamie do for Valentine's? I bet it was cute. I bet you two were adorable."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh tried not to double take. Ezra? They ******** hated one another though, at least he thought. Maybe he'd make another mental note to actually seek him out now. "Still..." He let it go with a shrug.

"We didn't do anything super crazy. Actually it was kinda dumb." Though by the tone of his voice it very obviously wasn't dumb, at least not to him. He actually started to smile a little, "There was this weird tunnel of love gimmick hosted in Ashdown. It was so cheesy." He snorted, "But Jamie ate it right the ******** up." He was pulling out his phone to show off all the dumb pictures. Any chance to flaunt his boyfriend was a good one. "I got him that shark clip too." He pointed it out in one of the pictures.

"Anyway, what the hell do I want." He was musing aloud as he looked over the menu. The only time in his life that he'd had sushi was some pre-made frozen grocery store garbage, which tasted okay, but only because Shiloh wasn't a picky b*****d.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany rolled her eyes. "Did food traumatize you or something? You want your usual." She drew the order sheet over to her side of the table too, and made a few marks. "Maguro hosomaki and a dragon roll to split," she explained to Shiloh, passing the sheet off to the waiter when he came around. She ordered edamame and drinks as well: water and green tea.

"I know you like soda, but not with this place's sushi, okay?" She nodded to herself. "It's too good."

She laughed at his mention of a tunnel of love. "I want to see," she said, leaning over. "It sounds like fun."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Heeey I might be in the mood for somethin' different, y'know." He didn't seem too mad despite it, especially considering he had no ******** idea what a dragon roll was. It sounded cool though? Or the mango homosmack that Melany ordered along with it. It'd still probably taste good.

Still, he was sliding the phone over as the waiter came by, the pictures being a lot of really goofy selfies of Jamie's over-the-top reactions to everything. The boat was a swan and it looked vaguely realistic. "There was some really funky stuff in there though. Like it started off normal? And then halfway through there were some half naked people on a unicorn or some weird s**t." He snorted. "I'd probably check it out again if it shows up next year."

His eyes suddenly lit up as he recalled other strange Valentine happenings, "There was this photobooth outside of the grocery store too that wasn't there the other day. I think it was some sort of commemorative thing, 'cause it was totally free." He reached over and started tabbing through his pictures. There were a couple random pics between the actually gushy Valentine ones, namely of his turtle and Jamie's crazy a** fish, before he reached a lower quality image of the pic from the booth. "It's creepy though, 'cause it's got ghost teddy grahams in the back." There was a ghost hand behind Jamie's head too, and a few vines sneaking out from under his beanie.

He already felt exhausted, but the chatter was still actually kind of pleasant.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"It was probably weird kids from the college," said Melany knowledgeably. "It's always weird kids from the college." She flipped through Shiloh's phone and made the appropriate cooing noises over how cute they were and how envious she was. They were so cute, she said, what an adorable couple, when were they going to adopt a turtle-fish for her to be an aunt to?

She was kidding on that last point, but seemed sincere about almost everything else.

Melany pillowed her chin on her hands. "D'you wanna hear something weird?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

It was getting harder and harder to think Melany could actually be playing him. Like, even if she was the same Melany he knew, he just didn't think she would've had it in her to act this way. It probably would've literally killed her, Disney princess vanquishing the evil by the light style or some s**t.

"If turtle-fish exist, then I totally want one." He was glancing around to make sure no one else was peeking over. He didn't feel like explaining weird eldritch fish monsters today. Melany's question caught him slightly off guard, mostly because of all the things going on.

"...Sure? What's up." He proceeded to copy her motion, his own chin on his own hands.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"This detective came up to me at the coffeeshop yesterday," Melany confided, "asking if I knew I'd been reported missing. Like, by who? He said someone at work, but why would work report me missing when I've been turning up every day for practice? It doesn't make sense." She shrugged, and laughed, and said, "And I guess I passed out on him."

She fell quiet for a moment, and her self-deprecating smile faded. "I kept hearing someone calling me," she said. "Her voice was high and clear and cold. She kept saying my name. Over and over. And I don't know how I knew, but I, I knew if I answered her and went to find her, I'd never come back."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Any lightheartedness from before faded away instantly. His lips drew back into a thin line, his eyes unblinking as he tried to process the information. "Shun Kuroda, yeah?"

He sighed and leaned back off of his hands. "He came by a few days ago to ask me the same thing. Apparently the person who reported you missing gave him my name." He thrummed his fingers on the table, "I mean, I'm guessing anyway. He only asked me if I knew anything. That—that's why I texted you."

Still, hearing her story was picking at the back of his head in was he didn't like. High and clear and cold; he knew a voice like that. He didn't like it. "The... the voice wasn't familiar to you...?" He, surprisingly, wasn't questioning the fact she was hearing voices at all and taking everything in complete stride. Was it a side effect of the second seal? Did it mean it was still well and alive inside her veins? He wasn't feeling very hungry about the sushi anymore.

"Promise that you'll text me if you start hearing it again?" He didn't want her to start wandering off and having god-knows-whatever happen in turn.

shibrogane