[PRP] You were clearly meant for more (Shiloh & Melany)

[Melancholies]

It was starting to get a little later in the day, the afternoon sun lofty above them. People chattered as they meandered along the sidewalks, absorbed in their own day-to-day lives. It honestly felt too good to ruin, Shiloh thought, but a promise was a promise. Problem was, he wasn't sure how easily he could get into the Otherworld. He could manage it before, but it was still rather sporadic, not nearly as fluid or controlled as other people he knew when they attempted. Despite this, he was pretty fine with the idle walk around town. Hell, he even offered his arm out like they had done at the mall, except this was on his own terms and his own volition.

"December." He said to Melany as they walked, confident enough that they wouldn't be overheard (His voice was still quieter, private). "Actually, it would've been November for me. I'm pretty sure the world was ending. It kinda sucked."

shibrogane

let's do this

 

[shibrogane]

Melany looped her arm through Shiloh's like it was normal. For her, maybe it was. Her attention was split between the street around them and Shiloh beside her, but her eyes were on him more often than not. "For you? Oh, sorry. I'll let you talk." She mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"For me for sure, but I dunno if it did for you." He shrugged. "It got really ******** up. A big group of us were trying to fix it, but... I think we made it really complicated as a result." His lips pursed into a fine line.

"Like, things were... falling apart. There was this big void in the forest. I'm still not sure if what we did like, made an entirely new world or just remade the old one..." He shook his head, "All of us that were there still remember everything, but a lot of people don't. Most people don't. Life's always been this way for them. It's just for that little ********' handful..."

Shiloh made a face like he was thinking, "I know it sounds crazy as hell, but it happened. We all woke up here in December. A month just gone like that." He glanced down her to see if she was still following. It was kind of a lot of weirdly vague s**t to take in. "Sometimes I feel like I am crazy..."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany seemed to be following. She was nodding earnestly, at any rate. "I woke up in December feeling really weird," she said. "My magic got all big and weird, then. Sometimes... Sometimes I hear someone calling me, but I told you that already. That only started then. Maybe it's related?"

Quieter, she added, "I don't think you're crazy."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"What was your magic like before?" He tilted his head, "Actually, what was mine like before? I know you noticed mine was different." He was still thinking, "The flowers, the all of that. I do think the voice is related though." There was a pause, something very still in his face like he was afraid for a moment. "That's why it kinda scares me..."

"It's like..." He sighed. "The you I remember was... a lot different." He chewed on his lip, "Likewise, I'm like... I'm not the same Shiloh you know. That's why I've been acting weird..." he was a little somber at the admission. "I didn't know how to bring it up. All the memories you had with him aren't ones that I have... I don't know how we met or how we became friends or... anything, really."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Lots less flowers," said Melany. "For you. Before I just had, you know, little things. My toenails don't break from dancing, and I don't have many muscle aches, and my hair's always perfect." She preened a little. "Now I can stop other people's magic, but only some of them. Not all of them."

She looked at Shiloh for a long, long moment after he admitted to not being her Shiloh. "Oh," she said. "I mean, you don't seem so different. I still like you."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

He nodded slowly, but there was a very real relief on his face. "Really? I mean, I guess I kind of figured. That's good then." There was a moment of hesitation, "I... like this you a lot more than the one from the other world." He looked somewhat ashamed to admit it. "S'why I wanna protect it."

He shook his head. "What do you mean by some of them?" Topic change, because he wasn't ready to delve into "you were kind of an abusive b***h" territory. "That seems like really useful magic to have." And potentially dangerous too.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany shrugged. "Well... so far it only seems to work on you?" She frowned into the vague distance. "And my ex-boyfriend. And this one redheaded girl I met at a starbucks. She dropped her wallet and saw me and ran off without even picking it up, and..."

She sighed. "I don't get it but I don't have to, do I? I believe you."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh was silent. "You... believe me?"

There was that familiar guilt again, for the briefest of moments. How in the world could someone so cruel in one universe trust him so unconditionally in the other? The thought that she could be playing him came up again, but... maybe it was possible for the universe to have changed her. He had wished for a softer world when he added his blood to the sigil, after all.

He laughed a little sadly, but his expression was hopeful. "I guess it's kinda confusing. But... I think it'll be okay." He rolled his shoulder, the one that was currently linking his arm with Melany's, "I can try and answer your questions though, if you have any. If that helps."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Yeah," said Melany. "You're like my best friend. And this is too weird to lie about."

She paused. "This place where we're going... is it the otherworld? I've never been there, except in my dreams. I'm not sure I can go."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Best friend.

"Yeah, it is the Otherworld." His brows scrunched up, "The voices and everything going on makes me think it's related to there." More importantly, to Court, but he kept quiet about it. "When did you start dreaming? Was that around December too? If you don't wanna go, I won't make you." We can just go home and put this off.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"No, it was like, September. Right after you went missing, the dreams started. I looked for you... I'm sorry I didn't find you, Shiloh. I really did look." Melany's shoulders hunched in and she looked down at the sidewalk. "I'm just nervous about it. I have a really bad feeling... like something's watching me."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"September..." His trials, it had to be. "Hey, I came back though, right?" He looked over at her, "Did I ever tell you why I was gone?"

He patted her hand. "Let's go another time then. I trust your intuition more than my curiosity."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Melany shook her head. "There was something that was you-but-not in your place. It said... such cruel things, Shiloh. I..." Her head dipped low for a second, and then she stopped walking, looked away.

"Do you... hear that?"

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Shiloh stopped walking with her, their arms still linked. He followed her gaze before looking at her and then looking back off into the distance. It still raised the question of who tithed him in this world, but it wasn't a priority to figure out right now.

"I don't hear anything, no." He said quietly, patting her arm with his other hand.

shibrogane