Am I Crazy? [Reyes]

[Melissa|Tristan]

After getting home from work, Mel was getting dinner ready when the phone rang. Something was up, because her phone never rang. There was no one to call her in this little town.

She rushed over to pick it up. Hello?
Hey sweetie. How's it going?
She almost choked. Dad? How did you get this number?
The operator. Sweetie, when are you coming home?
I'm not you're sweetie, and this is my home now.
Come on Mel. How long do you honestly think you can last on your own? You need money, and your family. You need us.
Melissa's angry voice hissed over the phone. No I don't, and don't call me Mel. You aren't my family anymore. Not after you abandonned us -abandoned Mom- for her.
It was best for all of us.
Her talisman hissed, but of course, he couldn't hear it's clear warning. His voice was patronizing, and that made her furious. Don't call me again. I want nothing to do with you, or her.
You're being unreasonable about this. Janine's really a nice person once you get to know her.
Unreasonable? She was being unreasonable!? Through clenched teeth, Mel spoke flatly into the reciever. Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you. Her voice shook with surpressed fuy, and she slammed the phone down agressively, cutting his reply short.

After stopping her quaking lips, she rushed back into the kitchen. A walk would help her; yes, a walk sounded good. She needed to clear her head, and burn off some energy. Mel pulled out a small backpack, and shoved water, granola bars, fruit and a couple of muffins into it. With that, she snatched her keys off the counter, shoving them into the bag too, and started jogging out of town, heading for the woods. As soon as she'd reached the outskirts, she accelerated, quickly speeding up. The anger was still burning inside her, but the faster she ran, the less it hurt, until it had disappeared altogether . . . for now at least.

Gradually, she came to a stop and picked an extra-large maple tree to sit against while she opened her backpack. Rooting around inside it, looking for an apple, Mel didn't pay much attention to her surroundings besides noting that everything was really green right now. There was a large patch of wildflowers nearby, pretty white ones. For half a second, Mel considered uprooting a couple to take back to her flat, but they so obviously belonged here that she couldn't bring herself to seriously consider it. If only she knew where she belonged.

[DesperateDark]

You see Satoshi, this is one of the reasons why I never let you take control.

Reyes only shrugged and grinned in a satisfied manner as he let his talisman pick his own way through the woods. True, his talisman never allowed him to take control of it or rarely transform when he wanted, but there were some things the Japanese man did have control over. One of those things were his own human body, so he decided to stick it to his talisman for once.

He had gotten a length of thin rope and attached a brick, a homemade cookie, a stuffed toy platypus and a carrot to it. Then he had tied it all up in a pattern, walked out to the woods, put it on his own head and transformed into a caribou. Now the little diorama was attached to the caribou's antlers, and there was nothing his talisman could do about it but walk along and try to ignore the miscellaneous objects.

The forest itself had begun to turn green for the spring, which was a nice thought. At least everything wasn't shades of white anymore, neither was it gloomy and muffled. His caribou preferred the more chill weather, but he preferred the warm, so there. His talisman then proceeded to tell him that for a twenty five year old disciplined man, he was acting like a brat. Well, yes, Reyes knew he could get really childish at times, but it was all a part of his personality and if his spirit didn't like it, then too bad.

Suddenly, his talisman came to an abrupt halt. "What? What happened?" Reyes asked, but received no answer. The caribou's ears twitched back and forth, his nostrils flaring to pick up a scent of some sort. A human, his talisman was detecting another human. "Oh yay, let's go and meet this other person!" Reyes thought to his talisman joyfully, but his talisman thought otherwise.

No. The caribou grunted, beginning to turn the other way.

Reyes pouted for a moment before deciding to offer a deal; "If you let me meet this person, I promise I wont attach the antler diorama to your head anymore."

A long pause and he could hear his talisman thinking about it, before the large caribou grunted again and turned around with a grumpy "Fine." Reyes let out a thrilled yelp and watched eagerly through his talisman's eyes as they wandered towards the scent, and finally ending at a large maple. There was a girl sitting under it, rooting in her backpack and then taking a glance at a patch of wildflowers.

He forgot all about the antler diorama attached to his antlers and, while his talisman was distracted, took a brief moment of control and stomped a hoof to attract her attention.

[Melissa|Tristan]

After digging around for what felt like eons, Mel finally pulled out an apple; one of two she had packed. Setting it down beside her, she pulled out a water bottle, and took a drink, which immediately made her feel better. Like her throat wasn't made of sandpaper after all. The whole outdoory thing she'd been doing in Noatak appealed to her simple, straightforward nature. Freedom. It was the most important part of her new life, and it had been something she'd needed desperately.

After deciding that a granola bar might go good with an apple, Mel started digging around again in her bag. The loud sound of a stomp caused her to jump to her feet, and scramble around the other side of the tree, abandoning her lunch and bag to whatever monster had made the noise. Chicken. Her talisman shook it's head, embarrassed by her behaviour, but after being attacked by various wild animals recently, Mel knew she couldn't be too careful. After waiting for a second, and having nothing else happen, she cautiously peeked around the edge of the tree.

It was a caribou, native to Canada, so it wasn't that big of a surprise to see one here. Though, if she'd really thought about it, she'd have realized that caribou didn't really live this far south, and they usually travelled in herds, of which there was none in sight. As it was, it was mainly the crazy tangle of random objects that the caribou was wearing like some sort of absurd hat (is that a platypus?) that gave away the fact that it was a talisman.

Slipping back around the tree, praying that it wouldn't gore her with it's horns, Mel watched it warily. Hello? Wondering if it had gotten it's head stuck in that thing by accident, Mel also wanted to know where it would even have found something so . . . unique. That's a cool hat you're wearing. Very . . . creative. If she was wrong, and it wasn't a talisman, Mel was going to feel pretty stupid.

There were several odd looking objects to say the least, one of them being a heavy looking brick. She was surprised that the caribou wasn't holding his head tilted because of it, but they were known for being strong animals. Picking up her apple, she put it in the palm of her hand and wordlessly offered it to him. After all, she had two, and she didn't mind sharing with a friend.

[DesperateDark]

When he stomped his hoof, the girl whom had been sitting under the three bolted as if he was a lion that roared instead. Reyes tried to go after her, but his talisman had taken over once again and stayed firmly rooted to the ground. After a while, and after a bit of arguing some more with his talisman, he finally spotted the girl again. She peeked out from behind the tree before slowly making her way back around.

She greeted him cautiously before commenting on his hat. “See, I told you it was unique.” He told his talisman, whom in turn grunted in irritation. The caribou wanted to leave now, but he sure didn’t. Reyes wanted to stay and talk to the girl; he was always the social butterfly and the welcome wagon of Noatak, and since he had never seen the girl before, he wanted to give her a welcoming.

“Look, at least she’s friendly; at least you can let me return the favour!” Reyes whined as the blond woman picked up an apple and held it out to them mutely. This triggered another argument about how his talisman was being inhospitable and how Reyes was being such a child. The two always argued, and one had to wonder why they were paired up together. “Let me take over for a few minutes! Only five minutes, please please please?”

At last, after some more whining, his talisman gave him. Gah, fine! Just stop being such a child for once! In which the Japanese man nodded happily and waited to feel his spirit guide let go of conscious control. Once he felt the mind relax, he quickly switched places before his talisman could change his mind. Once he felt the new muscle, the weight on his head, his four hoofs on the ground, he knew he was in control now.

Reyes leaned forward, careful not to send the brick swinging towards the woman’s face, and chomped half the apple in one bite, though he knew full well that he could’ve taken the whole fruit in one bite if he so wished. He left the other half for the girl, even though his talisman scoffed at him and told him that she wouldn’t want to eat half an apple covered in caribou slobber.

He leaned forward again, still vigilant to not smash the girl in the face with his brick. That would not have ended well, having a caribou with a diorama attached to his antlers and a girl with a nosebleed from a brick. And that wouldn’t have been a very nice welcome either, now would it? With cautious manoeuvring, he was finally able to get the cookie he had made this morning to dangle in front of the girl’s face. Yes, he was offering her the cookie… Just in a really strange way, that’s all.

[Melissa|Tristan]

The apple felt light and smooth in her palm, and Mel waited patiently for the caribou to decide. A confusing battle seemed to be occuring inside the caribou. First it looked longingly at the surrounding forest, then it refocused it's attention on her. The feeling was strange, like she had it's complete, undivided attention.

As the caribou leaned forward, Mel turned her head slightly to the side, cautiously eyeing the brick swinging from it's antlers. Her worrying proved to be unnecissary though, because he was very careful to keep it from swinging in her direction at all. His lips were soft, velvety like a horse's, and they moved across her palm gently to take half the apple. Giggling at the familiar sensation, Mel continued to offer the second half of the apple. The caribou was eyeing between her and the apple obviously telling her to have it. That's sweet of you, but you can have this half too if you want. I've got another one in my bag. Had it been one of the horses she'd used to ride, Mel wouldn't have hesitated to take a couple of bites out of the second half, but this was another person, not a real animal. It was different.

The caribou was leaning closer again, and wary of the horns, Mel really wanted to take a step back. However, she saw the careful positioning of the horns, and the attention the animal paid to where they were in relation to where her head was. There was no reason to trust that this person wouldn't hurt her, but it didn't seem malicious so far, and what was the harm in being friendly? As she remained where she was, the absurd hat came closer, until one object in particular was close to her head.

It was a dark brown, round . . . something anyways. As it swung back and forth in front of her face, Mel tried to guess what it was (a dirt clod maybe?). Either way, the animal was swinging it in front of her face, and she resisted the urge to bat at it with her hand like a cat with a string. Erm . . . no thanks, you can keep it. Since she didn't know exactly what it was, that seemed to be a general enough thing to say. Hopefully he wouldn't take offense to her refusal, and maybe he'd even join her for dinner. Company would be nice for once, and at the moment, her company could be crazy and she wouldn't even care.

[DesperateDark]

When the girl didn't take the other half of the apple, or the cookie he was offering for that matter, Reyes couldn't help but feel a little disappointed while his talisman hurled multiple 'I told you so's at him. But he leaned down again and took the other half of the ripe red fruit in one bite. It tasted nice, pleasantly sweet with a bit of sour. He preferred a whole lot sour, himself, but he knew other people would say otherwise. "Okay, I'm changing back now."

No you are not, unless you get this woman to take this ridiculous tangle off my antlers! I will not have you looking like an idiot.

Reyes rolled his eyes, but decided to just go along with it so he can say hello to the lady quicker. Manoeuvring and manipulating his antlers once again, he shook the diorama in front of her face a few times, but he was careful not to hurt her or hit her with anything. He hoped he got his message across quickly, and hoped that the girl would undo some pretty tricky knots that he had tied.

He decided to engage in some idle talk, partially to himself, partially to his talisman and partially to the girl. He knew she wouldn't be able to understand his caribou talk, but if she had a talisman herself, then she might be able to pick up some of it. "If you don't mind, can you please remove the antler diorama from my... Well, antlers?" It came out as a few snorts that made a fog in the cool air, but he didn't mind.

Stop it, she probably doesn't understand you. His caribou said impatiently, earning another pout from Reyes. Again with the arguments. It was an endless struggle between the two, it seemed, but thankfully they couldn't physically make contact. If they were able to, it would result in a whole lot of blood, most likely.

He leaned his head forward again and nudged one of her arms with his nose to encourage her. He wondered if she could handle the brick, since it was the heavier item. And if she could, then she would get to keep the brick if she wanted. Or the carrot, cookie or stuffed toy platypus. Okay, maybe not the platypus, since it was his favourite out of all his stuffed animals.

So as Reyes waited for the woman to take the stuff off his antlers, he mulled over a few thoughts and waited as patiently as he ever could.

[Melissa|Tristan]

The caribou looked somewhat disappointed by her refusal, but considering the fact that Mel didn't even know what it was he had offered, it was probably for the best. Thankfully, he did take the rest of the apple, just as gently as he had the first half too. There was a small amount of caribou slobber left on her hand, but Mel wiped it on her jeans casually. She'd gotten used to it with the horses, and luckily she'd brought hand sanitizer to use before she ate.

To Mel's surprise, the caribou rolled it's eyes; whether at her, or at some internal arguement, she wasn't sure. Either way, his closeness was making her a little uncomfortable. Her nervousness was enhanced tenfold by the caribou shaking his antlers directly in her face. Nothing came into contact, which she was grateful for, but the objects swung about a little dangerously. It was obviously trying to give her a message, but Mel wasn't getting it.

She did reach out and gently take ahold of one of the strings holding it together though. Here, let me get that off for you. It looks pretty heavy. As she started working through the first couple of knots, Mel realized how that had sounded. Not that you're weak or anything, since you obviously can handle it. What I meant was . . . A light blush covered her cheeks. Just stop talking, okay? Open your mouth when you've got a grip again. The bosiness wasn't appreciated, but Mel was nothing if not a forgiving person.

She'd removed the brick, which she carefully set on the ground using both hands when the caribou suddenly started snorting . . . repeatedly. Was there something wrong with him? Maybe he didn't like you touching his hat. The cheetah would have been laughing like a hyena had it been able, and as it was, the grin on it's face was highly entertained.

A nudge from the caribou's soft nose on her arm almost made her instinctively run back around the tree again, but she restrained herself. Returning to the tangle of knots that had attached the items to his antlers, Mel swiftly removed the other items, vocalizing what they were as she set them down. Carrot. Platypus. Er . . . Maybe that hadn't been such a good idea after all. Ackwardly, she placed the brownish dirt clody thing on the ground with the other objects, waiting for the caribou to say something.

[DesperateDark]

"Carrot." He watched as the woman removed the vegetable. "Platypus." She took off his favourite stuffed animal and placed it on the ground. "Er..." She took the cookie, but didn't seem to know what it was, before placing it on the ground too.

Reyes have off a happy whinnying sound, sort of like a horse but deeper, and gave her a big lick on the face like a dog, complete with caribou slobber. A few more licks before his caribou side stopped him and told him that if he were to give her any more gratitude, her face would have been wiped off. So he stopped just before that happened.

Finally, he was given the chance to phase back into his human body, and phase back he did. He admitted that it wasn't the most beautiful thing to watch, but it was better then some people he had met. He remembered that he had seen a snow leopard talisman somewhere in Europe once, and the transformation actually made him bolt because it looked so horrible. Oh my, it had been the stuff of nightmares.

"Hai, my name's Satoshi Reyes Ando!" He said cheerfully, skipping a circle around the lady standing in front of him before he stopped to face her. "What's your name?"

It was only now that the Japanese man was able to take a closer look at her without risking impaling her on his antlers. Her hair was a dark blond that was streaked with more light blond, and her eyes were a nice brown green colour. She looked athletic, like a swimmer, not a bodybuilder, and friendly. It had been a while since Reyes had seen a new face in Noatak, but the population was making a slow climb.

"You're new?" He questioned curiously, leaning down a bit to at least be somewhat of her height. He himself was six foot two last time he checked, but she seemed only five foot something. "Welcome to Noatak! I'm the town's unofficial welcome wagon." Reyes pranced another circle around her, just to convey his feeling of joy, though his talisman said it was probably conveying a feeling of insanity.

Reyes paused for a moment to take a look at her expression. She didn't seem too cheerful, and that wasn't good. "You look like you need a hug." He crooned, right before he picked her up in a nice, big bear hug like he always loved to do. Yes, he often did this to strangers and no, it was nothing new for him.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Upon setting down the contraption that had previously been tangled in the caribou's antlers, Mel took a second to look over the animal. Well built, and a pretty brown colour, it even looked dangerous. Her view was marred however, when it walked closer to her than before. As the caribou came even further into her personal space, Mel leaned backwards infantesimally, not taking a step back, but wanting to.

Without any warning whatsoever except for a deep whinnying noise, the caribou leaned still closer, and started enthusiastically licking her face. Ewwwww! Her talisman was screeching indignantly, instantly willing to do anything to rid itself of the sandpapery sensation. Within the second lick her face had lines of caribou slobber all over it, and within a couple more, she was gasping for air, after holding her breath when the assult began. Mel laughed at the texture of it's tongue, rapidly using her entire air supply between that and talking. Uh, what are you doing? Her tone wasn't angry, merely shocked and breathless.

After what seemed like eons the caribou got control of itself . . . sort of. Upon it's discontinuation of the enthusiastic licking, it immediately shifted into a tall, muscular Asian man. The shift itself wasn't so bad, all things considered. More graceful than Caleb's, that's for sure. He was still too close, far to close, especially considering he was of the opposite gender. Mel really wasn't comfortable with men, so being this close to one would take a little getting used to.

Hai, my name's Satoshi Reyes Ando! As she stood there trying to catch her breath she wondered if she was supposed to call him Satoshi, Reyes, or Ando? All of them were different, but easy to pronounce, save the first one. Answering truthfully as usual, Mel's somewhat shaken voice echoed out. I'm Melissa. Nice to meet you.

She gave him a once over, as he appeared to be doing the same with her. The first thing she noticed was his height. He's gotta be over six feet tall. Anyways, he towered over her, making it necissary for him to lean down a little to her level. She appreciated the gesture, because it made his face easier to view. He had slightly tan skin, which she envied, and brown eyes, along with a muscular body and a beaming smile.

You're new? Everyone seemed to assume that about her, probably because she still had an innocent look to her, despite everything that had happened in recent weeks. I've been here a few months, but I don't socialize all that much. Or so she thought. Mel cast him a cautious smile; he was a nice welcome wagon, and it was too bad they hadn't met sooner. She twisted her head around as he pranced around her, wondering what on earth he was doing. Was he checking her out from the back or something? If he is, then he definitely isn't allowed to eat with us!

She teared up a little at his innocent suggestion of, You look like you need a hug. It isn't you I need the hug from. Hugs automatically made her think of her mother, an ordinary reaction for anyone to have, she supposed. Still, before she could protest, he'd picked her right up off the ground and was ridding her of oxygen again. After holding her body stiff for a second, Mel finally relaxed into the embrace and allowed herself to enjoy this moment of simple human contact. Tears threatened to overwhelm her, but she quickly swallowed them back as the man gently put her down. She'd needed this more than she'd realized. Smiling tentatively back at him, her eyes went straight to the ground, avoiding the tall person's big brown eyes.

[DesperateDark]

"Melissa, that's a nice name!" Reyes put her down with his trademark smile, like usual. He was the sunshine-boy of Noatak, as told to him by near everybody. But when he took a look at her face after he had set her down, he immediately know something was wrong. Maybe it was the droplets of tears lingering in the corners of her eyes, or how shiny they had become.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" He immediately went down on one knee and pulled her into another hug, like a father might to a crying toddler. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" Aw, come on! He had come out here in the first place for two main reasons. One was to annoy his talisman, second was to get some peace and quiet. If he had hurt anybody, he would never be able to get any peace from his mentality until next week. He would feel bad and brood over it for the next little while.

"Here," Reyes smiled at her again and sat down this time, so he was cross legged in front of her. "I'm shorter now, if it makes you feel better?" Yes, he had remembered the multiple times he had made small children cry because of his height. At this point, he would try nearly anything to keep Melissa from crying; he hated to see people cry.

He smiled up at her reassuringly, as if telling her that no, he was not about to eat her head. On the other hand, his talisman started berating him on all the things he might be doing wrong. He hated how his talisman seemed to scrutinize every single little thing he did, whether it be giving free hugs or reading a book or cooking. But he knew not all talismans weren't as disagreeable as his own; Aurelia's komodo dragon got along okay with her, and he even knew some people who were good friends with their talismans. Some of these talismans even acted like a parenting figure, but more of a good parent and not one who yelled at their kids for being born.

Reyes realized his expression had fallen a fair amount just thinking about those things, so he quickly smiled again up at Melissa and hoped that she didn't catch that moment of melancholy. "You can call me Reyes, that's what everybody does." Reyes was, of course, his adopted English name. In any legal piece of information you would find of him, he was called Satoshi. But everybody called him Reyes because it was easy to pronounce. He watched her worriedly, trying to figure out what went wrong.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Thankfully, the embrace didn't last much longer. Mel noticed it was a ways down, since the man had lifted her feet off of the ground. Melissa, that's a nice name! An instant red blush covered the entirity of Mel's face; it was her usual reaction to compliments, especially ones given by the opposite gender. Not that those came very often, thankfully. Er...Thanks. I like yours too. Not that we can pronounce it or anything. Mentally wanting to kick her talisman, she ignored it for the time being. She hoped her effort to turn the attention back to the man worked. If there was something she didn't like, it was being in the spotlight. Too big of a risk for embarrassment.

The man appeared stricken by her almost-tears, and Mel hastened to brush them off. It was just a hug. No need to overreact dummie. Surprisingly, her talisman's chastizing helped her regain control, and she cleared her throat before speaking. Having her voice crack would be so embarrassing. Waving off the man's apologies, she hurried to correct his view. No, no, it's not you at all, it's me. She released a silly half-laugh in her mortification, trying to reassure him that she really was alright.

The drop in height was astounding as the man deftly folded his legs under him and knelt, pulling her into another hug. Remain calm. Whatever you do, remain calm. Still wrapped up in the second embrace, the temptation to break down was strong. To do so would be the biggest embarrassment ever though, so it probably wasn't a good idea. Crying on a stranger's shoulder was a stupid plan anyways, even if the stranger seemed really, really nice. A deep breath in and out, and Mel's voice was already clearer. I really needed that. Thank you. Her voice was sincere, and she hoped he understood how much she appreciated his niceness.

His joke about his height was recieved with a smile, and she sat down facing him, though almost out of reach. Just because she thought he was trustworthy didn't mean that he was. Reaching to her left, Mel picked up her bag and started searching for her food and water, more than willing to share with this friendly stranger. For some reason, the man went silent for a short time, causing Mel to look up with concern. By his glassy eyes, she could tell that he wasn't with her right now, so she let him be, knowing how she didn't like to be interrupted when she spaced out.

Continuing to watch him, without outright staring at him, Mel rooted around some more before finding what she'd been looking for. Around the same time, the man (who identified himself as Reyes) seemed to come back into himself, returning to the friendly person he'd been less than a minute before. She pulled out her water bottle and muffins, holding one of them out to Reyes. It's not great, but it'll do for dinner. There was no way in hell that she was returning to the apartment for quite a while, especially with that horrible phone call still echoing inside her head. Her dad always seemed to put her in a foul mood when they spoke, and Mel was this close (||) to getting an unlisted number, just to stop them.

Trying to reassure Reyes, who had a worried expression on his face, she shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant. I just had a bad phone call, that's all. Sorry if I scared you. Her expression mirrored his own, wondering what she'd made him think of to send him into such a sad state of mind, and feeling guilty for causing yet another perfectly happy person to spiral into depression. Perhaps this was a curse, for ditching her so-called family. Perhaps . . .

[DesperateDark]

Reyes felt extremely relieved when Melissa told him that it was, in fact, not him that caused the close brush with tears. That was all well and good, but what did cause her to look like she was about to burst crying in the first place, if it wasn't him? He looked on curiously as Melissa dug through her bag for something, leaning forward a bit to get a better view of the bag. His talisman then snapped at him to back off, since he was almost breathing down her back. With a huff and a rare moment of obedience, he sat back and waited for her to get whatever she was looking for.

"It's not great, but it'll do for dinner." Melissa held out a muffin and a bottle of water to him, and he looked back and forth between the enquiringly. Did she want him to take them? Probably. So being polite, he picked the two items that she offered and placed them in front of him, still smiling. He also figured that it would be a bit rude to just take them, so he put a finger to his lips and thought about what he could give in return for a minute. Another smile lighting up his features, he leaned to the side and picked up the various items that had been stuck to his talisman's head only a few minutes earlier.

"Here, you can take these." Reyes pushed the cookie, the carrot and the brick towards Melissa, but kept the stuffed toy platypus close to himself. If he found another one, he would be sure to give it to her, but this one was his favourite and he wanted to keep it. He had quite a few stuffed toys at home, so he figured he could give her one of those ones instead. He had a dolphin pillow that he thought she might like.

And what, pray tell, would a woman do with a brick?[/b] His talisman snorted irritably, to which he just shrugged. Maybe she could throw it at a stalker? He had no idea, to be honest, but he trusted creativity. Taking a sip of the water after opening it, he watched Melissa intently to see her reaction. She seemed like a really nice person, but then again, everybody was a 'nice person' in Noatak upon first glance.

"You're only a few months new? The people have been nice, I assume? Sorry I didn't catch up to you earlier, this doesn't make me such a good welcome wagon, huh?" He said, all smilies and sunshine as per usual. And how did his face not get sore after a while? The last time he remembered his smile being seriously wiped off his face was last fall when he showed Aras around the Shaman Ruins, but even then, it wasn't for long and he quickly made up for it in the end (hehe).

"So... Melissa... Melissa..." He tapped his cheek with a finger, as if in deep thought. "Melissa... Mel... Melon?" A joyful smile lit up his face once again and he giggled happily. "Can I call you Melon? That's a cool nickname; Melon." [/size]

[Melissa|Tristan]

The relieved expression on Reyes's face allowed Mel to relax still further in his presence. He'd obviously cared a lot about the answer, which was an indication of his trustworthiness. Again, the personal space issue made Mel uncomfortable, but again she said nothing, and Reyes ended up leaning back of his own accord. Why he shifted so suddenly Mel couldn't tell, but she hoped it didn't have something to do with her. Certainly she didn't smell. Did she? Trying to be subtle, Mel bent her head over her bag again and took a cautious whiff. Nothing but strawberries; the scent of her shampoo and deodorant.

After grabbing her own chocolate chip muffin and water bottle, Mel took a large bite and drink, hungry beyond belief. She'd been about to make pasta with sauce for dinner when she'd received the call. Which had put a nix on that plan, since when she got worked up she needed to do something. That's how she'd ended up going for a run; exercise seemed to relax her once she'd burned off all the frustrated energy.

Twisting her head to the side, eyeing Reyes as he reached over for the hat he'd been wearing, she flinched when he pushed several of the objects towards her. Unsure of exactly what the manners to be used were in this situation, her eyes widened and she stopped moving for a second, before relaxing again and taking them carefully handling the brick. Err...Thank you. The way she said it made it sound like a question, but she hoped Reyes wouldn't notice. Placing them behind her, Mel was rewarded by Reyes' megawatt smile again, which in turn made her smile too.

Mel's mind was frantically trying to come up with ways she could use the brick. She didn't want to just dump it somewhere, since it obviously had meaning for Reyes, but she couldn't exactly set it on her windowsill for everyone to see either. Too bad she hadn't had it when Vicky attacked her; it would have been completely satisfying to chuck the brick at her head. You could stick it in your garden. Her talisman was brilliant, really it was. There was a planter box right outside Mel's door, where she could stick it easily, and no one would notice the difference.

You're only a few months new? The people have been nice, I assume? Sorry I didn't catch up to you earlier, this doesn't make me such a good welcome wagon, huh? Taking her time to process the information, she replied slowly and carefully. Yeah, I haven't been here that long, I suppose. Most of them have been friendly, I guess. With a few major exceptions. Mentally shaking off the self pity, she beamed back at him. Better late than never, and you do make a really nice welcome wagon. Her smile grew a little wider as she remembered the ridiculous hat he'd been wearing.

So... Melissa... Melissa... Cocking her head to the side, Mel cast him a questioning look. Was he having trouble with her name or something? He hadn't before, unlike Caleb, who'd mangled her name almost as bad as she had his. Reyes was tapping his cheek with a thought, and he started playing with her name, shortening it, then randomly naming a fruit that seemingly had nothing to do with anything. Or so she thought. Can I call you Melon? That's a cool nickname; Melon. After being mentally slapped by her talisman Mel managed to choke out an answer for Reyes. Sure, if that's what you want. It was tempting to raise her eyebrow at Reyes's unexpected giggling, but within half a second she was laughing too at the sheer silliness of the sound.

[DesperateDark]

Yeah, I haven't been here that long, I suppose. Most of them have been friendly, I guess. There was a split second pause before she smiled back at him. Better late than never, and you do make a really nice welcome wagon. And when she agreed to let him call her Melon, it only made him happier. And she was laughing too, so he guessed that it was all well and good. He still wondered what had made her cry earlier, but he decided against saying anything about it now and leaving it for later.

"So Melon," the Japanese man took a bite of the muffin, found it was good, and took another bite. He had breakfast this morning, and lunch earlier, but no dinner yet. He had yet to make anything though, and he needed to cook for Aurelia too. Aurelia always insisted that he not cook for her, but he always did anyways. His cooking might have been a bit eccentric for most people, but it was all edible and he liked it.

And then he remembered that one time Aras dropped by to visit. Aurelia and Reyes were supposed to meet so they could talk, but she had cancelled and he figured that if he was free that night, he might as well bake some stuff he wanted to try. Of course, Aurelia came along after all and Aras had somehow trailed her. Reyes was happy about that; he liked Aras, and Aurelia was his best friend in the little town. He had baked cookies then.

Which reminded him... Reyes leaned to the side once again to glance behind Melissa and found the items that had been attached to his talisman's head earlier in a pile. "Hey Melon?" He reached over behind her and took the cookie, placing it in front of her. "You can eat this too, it's good." The cookie itself looked a bit warped, but that was because he baked it for a little too long and had to shave off the burnt parts.

Reyes watched her eagerly, still smiling like the happy-go-lucky sort of person he was. He had actually only made the cookie this morning out of leftovers from last night. It was, as far as he could remember, cucumbers, bacon and chocolate and he was sure that there was some other stuff in there he was forgetting. Maybe some leftover ramen noodles? Maybe.

"Don't worry, it's safe to eat. It's a cookie." He nudged it more towards Melissa.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Relieved that at last something had changed the subject off her almost crying fit, Mel eagerly jumped into this one. So Melon, Reyes’ new nickname for her almost sent her into another laughing episode, but she settled for smiling brightly at him. The phone call from her father could be pushed aside, for now. She’d have to deal with it later, for sure, but for the moment Mel thought she deserved some happiness. And chocolate chip muffins made her happy, especially since she had made them herself, therefore she’d added as many chips as she liked. They were full of chocolaty goodness, and really bad for you, but totally worth it.

Reyes’ thought had trailed off into nothingness, and she idly wondered if that happened often. Probably. He seems the absentminded type. Urging her talisman not to judge until they at least knew the guy better seemed like a smart course of action. He had been unpredictable so far, with the randomly strung together hat, the fact that his English was perfect, despite his obvious Asian heritage, and the fact that his talisman that totally didn’t seem suited to him. A monkey perhaps, or a giraffe, but a caribou? The gods sure had a good sense of fun, that’s for sure. Not that she was one to talk. Sure, on the safari trip she’d taken with her mother the cheetah’s had been the coolest animals out there, but

There was yet another personal space violation as Reyes reached behind her. Unconsciously, Mel held her breath as he leaned closer, releasing it only when he was back in his original position. He’d carefully set the brown mass in front of her, and she noticed how his hands dwarfed the . . . thing. You can eat this too, it's good. Eat dirt? Why would she do that? Obviously it’s not dirt then dummy! Well, what is it then? Frustrated with her talisman, Mel ignored it for the time being, and listened to Reyes as he finally solved the mystery of what the brown thing actually was.

Don't worry, it's safe to eat. It's a cookie. After looking at what she’d once thought was a dirt clod, Mel picked it up carefully. “I like cookies.” It looked slightly suspicious; there were weirdly shaped pieces of something in it, but she daintily took a small bite. It would have been rude to refuse, just as it would have been rude to make faces, but Mel had a hard time swallowing it. The flavor wasn’t actually that bad; it was the texture she had a hard time with. That was the reason she’d always preferred waffles over pancakes; it was a texture thing. As it crumbled in her mouth, her tongue touched something slightly slimy, then something else really slimy. What did he put in this cookie?

After chewing and swallowing quickly (it was crunchy in parts), she finished the entire cookie without pausing to think about it. It was only once she’d finished the entire thing and had a sip of water that she had the nerve to ask, “What kind of cookie was it?” Hopefully he didn’t expect her to ask for the recipe or anything, because she never wanted to eat something with that kind of texture again. “It was . . .” Completely disgusting! I can’t believe we just ate that! “ . . .the most interesting cookie I’ve ever had.”