Am I Crazy? [Reyes]

[DesperateDark]

Reyes watched happily as Melissa took a little bite at first and then, in a move that oddly reminded him of Aras that one night, she ate the whole thing without a pause to possibly think about what she was putting in her mouth. “What kind of cookie was it?” She questioned. “It was . . . the most interesting cookie I’ve ever had.”

His smile only widened at her comment. "Thank you." He reached over and poked her cheek, being random like always. "I made it out of some stuff I found in my fridge. I'm pretty sure there's cucumber in there. And bacon and chocolate, but I'm also sure that there're other things in there too. I just don't remember." A slight pause as he thought about it. "If you have any allergic reactions to it, I recommend you go to the clinic."

Yes, he often didn't know all of everything he put in his own food. Sometimes it was too much to remember, and sometimes he just put random things in it just because he felt like it. Aurelia was the one who had to share most of it with him since she lived at his house most of the time. And he remembered, long ago, Caleb also needed to put up with his cooking too. But thinking of Caleb made him sad, so he shoved that away in a second and didn't think about it anymore. He had promised himself long ago that he would never think about that anymore.

"Melon," a few more bites of his normal food muffin, a little drink of water. "What're you doing out in the woods on this fine day? How did you get here anyways?" Reyes knew that most people preferred to keep near the edges of the woods for camping and stuff, and nearly nobody ever came this far in. Getting near the woods was sort of hard enough as it was, but his house was near it and he was familiar with the path. Melissa said she had only been here for a few months, so he was surprised she knew how to get here. But did she know how to get out? That was a different question all together.

Reyes plucked some bits of grass between his fingers as he waited for her answer. He needed to keep his hands distracted or else he would begin to fidget. He remembered how his parents always told him that he always needed to move or else he'd become depressed, which was what got him into sports in the first place. It was a fine day overall, the sun was still shining and the temperature was nice and warm. The plants were coming back to life thanks to the weather and the birds have decided to come back to Canada.

[Melissa|Tristan]

So the cookie hadn’t been the most pleasant experience of her life, but the expression on Reyes’ face made it all worth it. Almost. At least the object was out of her mouth, though she could still taste the nasty traces of stuff in her mouth. And that wasn’t even mentioning what her stomach was thinking about the ‘cookie’. Reyes didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong though, and went into some details about the ingredients he’d used.

Cucumbers? Bacon? What kind of person used those things in cookies? Who was this guy? All very good questions in Mel’s opinion, but not thinking about the cookie was probably a good idea at the moment with the way her stomach was roiling. At least some of the textures were explained now, and there hadn’t been any bugs either. Not so bad after all. It could have been worse, she supposed.

At Reyes' touch, her skin flamed red again, spreading out from the point of contact. It was an unconscious reaction, and Mel was powerless to stop it. Which of course, made it all the more embarrassing. I'm not allergic to any food that I've ever eaten in my life. It was true, metal was the only thing she reacted unpleasantly to.

"Melon," The nickname made her grin again at him. "What're you doing out in the woods on this fine day? How did you get here anyways?" Ooh, tough question, though she wanted to know the same about him. I was running to nowhere in particular. I just really needed to get out and do something today. Wishing that she could tell him how unsafe she felt now in her flat, after Vicky's attack and subsequent threats, she swallowed her words. She took a massive bite of her muffin, and nearly choked on it, but she was starving. In a way Mel regretted not remaining at the flat, and passing up the pasta she'd been about to make, but this was much better.

Watching Reyes pull grass reminded Mel that so far he was the exact opposite of her. While he was outgoing and shameless, she was embarrassed and withdrawn; while he was completely open and cooked with crazy ingredients, she preferred to stick with the known and familiar; while Reyes liked to fidget, she could remain still for lengthy periods of time. Still he was as friendly as they came, so far. I'm like you, you know. At least, in one way I am. She'd leaned closer and spoke in a conspiriatorial whisper, though there wasn't a sound to be heard. Or perhaps because there wasn't a sound to be heard was the reason she spoke so softly.

[DesperateDark]

"I'm not allergic to any food that I've ever eaten in my life." Melissa was lucky then, not being allergic to anything. Reyes knew he was allergic to a few things because he'd had reactions to some stuff he cooked before. It's just that he couldn't single out any one ingredient because he often added so much into his cooking and didn't keep track of what he actually put in. That was probably a bad idea anyways. "Oh, you're lucky then. I'm allergic to a few things, but I don't remember what they are."

She had also began to blush, and he couldn't figure out why. His poke didn't do it, because it was just a poke in his mind. Maybe she just had a blush reaction to all sorts of contact. Reyes continued to pluck bits of grass as Melissa spoke about the need to get out. Yeah, he understood that, he always needed to go out or else he'd start to go a bit nuts. Or maybe she had to get out because of the bad phone call she mentioned? Reyes wasn't the kind of person to dig for information, unless it was something he really wanted or needed to know about, so he let it slide and if Melissa wanted to tell him, then she would.

"I'm like you, you know. At least, in one way I am." She had leaned closer, which in turn made him lean a little closer too. However, he didn't get in close enough to hear what she was saying. Reyes paused, leaned in, for another moment or two to see if she would say anything more. She didn't, so he leaned back to his original sitting position.

"Huh?" Reyes questioned curiously, an eyebrow raised in query. He had only heard a few words because he didn't duck in quick enough. Forget about him actually understanding what she said.

[Melissa|Tristan]

When Reyes stated that she was lucky not to have her body reject certain foods, Mel almost choked on the mouthful of water she’d just drank. Outwardly, she gave no indication of her thoughts at all, shielding herself from it. Lucky? Being allergic to metal was horrible! Not only were earrings, necklaces and bracelets pretty much out of the question, but this allergy would never go away. She’d never really been a girly girl anyways, but it would have been nice to have that option. It would be much simpler to be allergic to strawberries or something like that. Mel smiled at finally being able to worry about something so trivial compared to what she'd been thinking about lately.

He seemed confused by her blush, but Mel did it pretty much every time a guy so much as looked at her, so it was normal. Wait until he complimented her, then he’d see a whole new shade of red. Mel was confused by compliments; never knew what to do with them. Reyes was playing with the grass at his feet, reminding her of the time she’d been so nervous on a date that she’d torn up a 6 inch square of it in front of her. A shy half smile crossed her face as all the changes she’d gone through since then came to mind.

Taking the final bite of muffin in her mouth she shoved the wrapper in a plastic baggie she’d brought, and took another sip of water. I've got a . . . a . . . you know . . . Another glance around with, of course, no one in sight. A talisman. The last two words were spoken softly, but clearly enough to be heard easily. Nervously waiting for his reaction, Mel fiddled with her shoelaces, playing with the ends. It had always been something she did when she was worried about something or felt uncomfortable. There was something comforting about the familiar texture of them in her fingers. She focused on the ground as though it were suddenly very interesting, afraid to even look at Reyes.

[DesperateDark]

"I've got a . . . a . . . you know . . ." Melissa took an uneasy glance around. There was nobody this far out except for them, or Aurelia if she was around. Nobody came out this deep, at least nobody sane, unless there were some really hardcore campers in Noatak. "A talisman." Oh, so that's what she wanted to say. She had finished off her muffin and was now fiddling with her shoe laces.

It was getting a bit weird, talismans and the like, lately. The talisman population in Noatak was about four percent of the total population, which meant about four hundred and forty talismans running around in the area. However, people were beginning to reveal their talismans more easily, and Melissa had just done that. He knew that he had made his own blunder by approaching her while he was a talisman, and thus revealing it, but did she go around telling strangers she could transform into an animal? The normal civilians were getting a bit suspicious, but they didn't know much yet.

"You know, you shouldn't go around telling people that." Reyes took a few good sips of water, still picking at the grass with one hand. He always needed to have something occupying his hands, and it was often picking grass. Then again, his talisman was a caribou, and he often ended up eating it. Grass didn't taste so bad, but it might have not been a good idea to eat it in the gardens with people watching. Thankfully, most of those people knew Reyes and expected weird things from him. He began to pluck a few blades and put them in his mouth, chewing on them. He was getting a bit hungry, and a muffin wasn't exactly going to do it for him.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Shoelaces were funny things. The ends of Melissa's were frayed and slightly tearing at the ends, and it was those rebel strings that she toyed with with her fingers. Eye contact wasn't really an option for her at the moment when she was likely to freak out a little bit.

When she finally had gathered up the guts to look up at Reyes' face, his weirded out expression threw her off. He had a talisman obviously, so why was it seemingly such a big deal for her to tell him she was like him? The lack of surprise on her face was a giveaway, so it probably hadn't been necissary for her to spell it out for him. Still, Reyes had seemed pretty relaxed up until this point, and just now he'd suddenly turned uptight for what in Mel's mind was no reason at all.

"You know, you shouldn't go around telling people that." Despite her talisman's ranting over Reyes' obviously questioning on their intelligence, Mel half-smiled. "I don't just go around telling people that, if that's what you were thinking. Only people like . . us." Several quick glances from her shoelaces to Reyes and back again showed that he was pulling up grass and eating it. Wrinkling her nose a little involutarily, her cheetah made a silent disgusted expression to show how truly revolting the thought of eating grass was. Nothing better than a nice juicy steak. Mmm . . steak.

Her stomach growled loudly at the thought, making her blush. "Umm . . . I'm a little hungry still. Would you like to go . . . er, get something to eat?" Flushing brighter at the way the offer had come out, she carefully pushed herself to her feet. "I'm sure that grass tastes . . . nice, but maybe you'd like some people food?" She meant for it to be a statement, but it came out sounding more like a question. Wondering what his answer would be, she waited rather patiently for him to think it over.

[DesperateDark]

"I don't just go around telling people that, if that's what you were thinking. Only people like . . us."

Well, that still wasn’t the best of ideas, but he guessed since Melissa was taking some precaution, it was better then none. The woman certainly wasn’t a Hunter, and most likely an Innocent if she took sides. But if she happened upon a Hunter, would she tell? Reyes was rather concerned for her safety, but he was concerned for everybody’s wellbeing these days.

“I make it a rule to never tell, and preferably never show,” Reyes continued to pluck grass and put it in his mouth, munching on it before swallowing. By the look Melissa was giving him, she must’ve thought he was a total crack basket to be eating grass. Well, at least his talisman wasn’t a cow then, but at this rate, he’d have preferred a cow to his current one. The caribou grunted at that, telling him he was ungrateful. Stupid talisman…

Then the woman’s stomach growled and he looked up from his grass eating. She stated the obvious by telling him she was a bit hungry, and looked more then mildly embarrassed when she suggested that they go and get something to eat. Some ‘people food’, as she put it. Well, food was food to him, and as long as it was edible and it didn’t cause any horrible side effects, he was game. But there were a few things he would never want to eat, and one of those was venison minus beef. This included buffalo, deer, elk and, of course, caribou.

“Eh, okay!” Reyes get up, dusting off his pants and stretching skyward. It felt nice to stretch, and with all the stress going on these days, he sure needed it. He was beginning to get those weird calls from undesignated numbers again, and he knew what they meant. Blah, he should probably just get a new phone with an unlisted number. “So where do ya wanna go?”

[Melissa|Tristan]

Even though Mel had felt that her explanation was a solid one, Reyes still looked disapproving of her. Note to self: Don't mention Aras, Caleb, Ofelia or Aurelia. Ever. She and her talisman were in agreement about that at least. Reyes looked pretty close to freaking out on them now, so who knew what telling him about everyone would do!

His explanation wasn't good enough for her however, on how he himself told others. "You showed me." It had been too difficult to resist pointing that out to him. Do we really look that innocent? Her talisman's question was surprisingly enlightening. Others must see us like that when they don't know what we really are. People are superficial that way . . . they judge based on what you look like. Her talisman piped up with a mental comment to the effect that they were underestimated.

Mel wasn't sure what to say when Reyes asked her where she'd like to go. She'd reached the end of her plan when she'd suggested they get more food. "Umm . . . I'm not sure." Searching her mind frantically for a possible restaurant, she blurted the first place that came to mind. "How about pizza?" Crouching down, Mel carefully began packing up the remaining objects that had made up Reyes' 'hat'. Everything except for the brick went in her bag, which Mel knew would probably break it if she tried to put it in there too.

Any garbage they'd had from their snack went into a plastic baggie, which she would throw out once they reached town. Shrugging into the straps, she stretched up to her full height, which was sadly still much shorter than Reyes. Mel wished that she could see Ofelia stand beside him. It would have been purely comical to see that, and the thought made Mel smile, especially since Reyes was stretching even taller now. Oddly enough, she felt more protected than threatened by his large presence. She waited patiently for him to either take or leave the brick, since she sure wasn't carrying it around with her.

[DesperateDark]

"Umm . . . I'm not sure." A pause as she seemed to think of where they could possibly go. Reyes had been everywhere in this little town, so if she couldn't think of anything, he could possibly come up with a suggestion. There was Nine Muses Cafe where he played his music every Friday, and there was... "How about pizza?"

Only one place in the whole of Noatak came to mind when she said pizza, and that was Uncle Sam's. He used to work there for a time, but in the end ended up playing music there whenever they asked because his food turned out 'too weird for the customers', whatever that meant. He brightened up and smiled. "Uncle Sam's, right?"

...Why had Melissa left the brick on the ground? She had put everything but the brick into her bag, and Reyes stared at it for a moment, back and forth between the brick and Melissa. Finally, he stooped over and picked up the brick in one hand and placed the platypus on top of it before tucking both under his arm. Well, if Melissa didn't want the brick, then he'd take it home and make something of it.

"Okay, let's go!" Reyes then proceeded to take Melissa's hand in his and began to waltz off into the woods in the general direction of Noatak, skipping every few steps to boot. If anybody saw them, it was okay, they'd probably recognize him anyways.

[Melissa|Tristan]

Thankfully, Reyes let her take her time to think of a possible eating place. She wasn’t able to think of the name, since she’d only been there herself a handful of times, but Reyes himself was able to supply that easily enough. ”That’s the place!” Her talisman rolled it’s eyes while muttering that actual meat would taste much better than pizza would. Maybe some caribou? Giving it a mental slap, Melissa pushed it forcefully to the back of her mind. So far, food was the only major thing she and her cheetah had disagreed upon, but it was also one of the most important things they needed to agree on.

Once more, Reyes’ piercing gaze made Mel slightly uncomfortable, but he picked up the brick, and tucked it –along with the platypus- underneath his arm. Unsure as to why he’d a) had a brick attached to his antlers in the first place, and b) why he didn’t leave it here, she decided it was better to say nothing than to risk speaking and offending him. Reyes seemed pretty . . . er, unusual so far, but there was something about him that Mel was drawn to. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt . . . completely accepted by him, and that was an unusual but nice feeling.

Smiling at Reyes’ enthusiasm, but blushing at the way he simply grabbed her hand, she allowed him to lead her back towards Noatak. After bouncing along in silence for a couple of minutes, Melissa cleared her throat and attempted to make conversation. Pathetically, you could say. ”So . . . what brought you out in the woods at dinnertime?” It was rather comical, having this extraordinarily tall person skipping along while holding her hand. The thought occurred to Mel that he was acting a little . . . well, a little gay. On the other hand though, some people’s personalities were just like that for no apparent reason, and it didn’t mean anything at all. Taking her talisman’s advice, she decided it was better to wait and not judge based on first impressions. Gay or not, it didn't matter to her anyways. For the moment, she was happy to just semi-skip along out of the woods with her new friend.

[DesperateDark]

”So . . . what brought you out in the woods at dinnertime?” They hadn't been walking, or skipping, for very long. Noatak was a bit more up ahead, then they'd have to cross the field to actually get to town. The town's territory was rather large, but the town itself was tiny compared to the boarders. Noatak took up a large chunk of the surrounding mountains, the pine forest, the lake, many fields and the smaller woods with ruins hidden in them. There was plenty of places to hide in and around the town limits, after all.

Reyes answered her with a shrug and a smile over his shoulder, reassuring and friendly. The only reason he had really come out here was to bug his talisman and get some grass for a bite, but that wasn't going to go on now. He felt glad that he had stumbled upon and across Melissa, he loved company and being around people. He was guessing that what had made her sad before was what caused her to come out into the middle of the woods, so he didn't question on it, though he was indeed curious. Maybe later, or never, whichever came along first.

They continued in happy, blissful silence for another while until they reached the end of the pine forest. The town was off in the distance, bigger then a speck on the horizon but still relatively small. "It's over there." Reyes said happily, still with that innocent, boyish grin on his face. Most people said he never really learned how to grow up, and he had to agree to that occasionally. Melissa would probably agree to this by the end of their meeting as well, but he didn't really care for that.

[Melissa|Tristan]

This had been the weirdest walk Mel had ever been on, and by quite a margin too. It was very strange to see Reyes skipping along in front of her, but she did her best to pretend nothing embarrassing was going on. It was easier said than done, but then again, Reyes' method of movement seemed to suit his sweet personality. It was just a little comical to see him skipping.

She returned his nod, and continued walking, slipping her hands inconspicuously into her pockets. Depending on who she was with, Mel tried to blend in or stand out. 99% of the time though, it was blend in, and this was no exception. Her shrugged shoulders and downwardly cast eyes gave the impression that perhaps she was walking alone, but she really wasn't.

It was nice to be able to walk in easy silence with someone. With Aras, there were silences, but they were always tense or ackward. With Reyes, Mel was finding herself able to let her guard down and not have to worry so much about anything. Part of that trust definitely came from the fact that if something attacked them, they would have an irritated 1000+ pound caribou to answer to, and partly because Reyes's childish behaviour was so refreshing.

As the trees slowly became less dense, Melissa's tension increased slightly. Her cheetah, inversely became more comfortable the bigger the open space became. It was due to the fact that Melissa preferred hiding under the landscape's natural cover, whereas her cheetah was slightly arrogant about being able to outrun anything that would try to harm them.

"It's over there." Reyes' voice broke the silence, causing Melissa to flinch nervously. It was an instinctive reaction that she wasn't able to quell. She nodded and smiled up at him, still marvelling over how tall he was. Her head came only halfway up his chest, and it was perhaps his size more than anything else that made her feel very safe. Mel was unable to stop grinning like an idiot and forced her gaze away from him, before turning and studying the small town in the distance. It wouldn't take them very long to get there, especially with Reyes' massive strides leading the way.

There were many questions on her mind, some regarding his talisman, but most were about his philosophies on life and other things. For some reason, Reyes' somewhat childish attitude had piqued her curiousity regarding his views on many things. One was definitely the whole talisman war thing, but there was also the Vicky crisis and how he dealt with having a talisman that she wished to ask him about. His opinions would probably be unique, giving the behaviour she'd already witnessed coming from him.

Broaching the subject was going to be difficult, but maybe they could get there by alternating questions or something. It took some courage to clear her throat and begin, but after thinking about it for several minutes she managed it. "So, how long have you known you had a talisman?" It was perhaps the most innocent, and least prying out of all of her questions, but she wouldn't ask him anything she wouldn't answer herself. That is, if he wanted to know something about her, all Reyes need do was ask. She wouldn't tell him that straight up, but he'd likely find that out on his own.

[DesperateDark]

"So, how long have you known you had a talisman?"

"A fair amount of time, not as long as some." Reyes continued to skip along happily, answering the innocent question with an innocent answer. It was too late now to hide it anyways, and from her demeanour, she did not seem like much of a Hunter. She was nothing like that Vicky woman he had met a long time ago, and she had almost chased him out of a restaurant before kidnapping him and tying him up in some abandoned cabin. If Aurelia didn't happen to be there, he really didn't know what would've happened to him.

As they drew nearer to Noatak, Reyes began to slow and shorten his strides. He didn't know if Melissa was becoming tired yet, so he measured out his pace, just to be sure. She struck him as a shy type, how she had her hands in her pockets with her head tilted downwards ever so slightly. He, on the other hand, preferred to be noticed and rather in-your-face with his approach. But, despite the gap, he figured they would get along pretty well. If she would be nice, so would he, it was that simple.

The sky was a nice, baby blue with occasional clouds drifting back and forth. His mind was beginning to wander here and there, which was never safe in his opinion, so he quickly pulled it back. Those far off recesses of his mind weren't safe for anybody, what, with the stuff it contained. So instead he just looked over his shoulder and smiled back at Melissa, slowing his pace again so she could keep up. Better to hide it and never let it show.

"What brought you to Noatak?" He asked nonchalantly as they continued on their way to said town. He could begin to see the smaller details now, like how many houses were in that row or how many shops happened to be clustered around the fountain. "It certainly couldn't be the amazing school or large amounts of business opportunity."

Of course he was being a little sarcastic about that. The local collage wasn't that great, and if you wanted to make a business here, you better be very well off in the first place. He came to get away from pretty much everything and Noatak, being surrounded on three sides, was the perfect place to be. Then again, that was his take on it. Some--most, actually--would probably go out to one of the bigger cities and simply blend, keeping their head low and becoming nobody more then what one would find walking down any given street at any given moment.

"Are you liking it here so far?" Of course Reyes was asking mindless questions now to fill the silence. Whether Melissa answered or not, he continued to smile and be the sunshine of everybody's day.

[Melissa|Tristan]

With Reyes still bouncing around like a small child it was easy for Melissa to slip into her own train of thought. Their near silence gave her an opportunity to reflect and try to plan her next move. She was certain that her apartment was no longer safe, but if she didn't show up Vicky's first move would probably be to check every hotel from here to Windsor, so staying in one of them wasn't an option either. A wry smile crossed her face at how quickly the plan she'd thought was foolproof had been torn to shreds. The thought that she might meet people who might hurt her in Noatak hadn't ocurred to her for a second, though it probably should have. Every place has their good and bad people, right? She just hadn't thought it would happen so quickly and so ferociously.

Maybe it was the 'cookie' from earlier, but her stomach was twisting itself into knots. If there was one thing Mel disliked, it was not having a plan. She tried to always be prepared for whatever might happen. Hence the first aid kit in her bag when the bear had attacked on her first day in Noatak. Still, there was nothing that could have prepared her for Vicky or learning about the Hunter's vs. Innocents war that was taking place in her new hometown. Aras and . . . her name had been Ofelia right?? had told her everything, finally answering all of her questions. It was as though the pieces had clicked into place and everything suddenly made far more sense than it had before. There was still much that she didn't know or understand, but the major points had been laid out before her by Ofelia.

While Aras's input had been minimal, she was grateful to him for being a friend when she needed one. His steadiness had provided some sense of normal in some otherwise crazy moments. Right now Melissa craved normalcy in a way that she would have never thought possible. Before learning of the ancient war taking place in and around Noatak, she'd already felt as though her life was more messed up than most. Now she felt as though it was spinning out of control.

"What brought you to Noatak?" That made her head snap up, mind intantly alert. Upon seeing Reyes' innocently curious expression though her body relaxed again. She made an effort to smile in a friendly manner at him as she answered, no matter how saying the answer made her feel inside. "My mom died, and my dad and I . . . well, we don't get along very well." Not getting along was probably the understatement of the century, but Reyes didn't need to know that. A half smile at the mention of her mother and she continued talking to work through the powerful feelings. "I like it here pretty well. The people have been nice for the most part." Aras came to mind first, closely followed by Caleb and Ofelia. Aurelia didn't really register because they'd never really spoken since they'd met in the middle of a fight.

She idly wondered what had happened to Caleb after he'd disappeared, leaving her at the hospital after the cougar incident. His message -relayed to her by the seretary- still rang in her ears. 'Tell Mel I love her, okay?' She hadn't seen him since, though it would have been nice. The nurses had told her that he'd left on crutches, which he'd have long since graduated from, but all the same Mel wished to make absolutely sure that he was fine.

Thankfully Reyes hadn't let her drift too far into thought, so she was brought back quickly. An unwilling smile crossed her face; he seemed to be a child stuck in an adult's body. And a very tall adult at that. There were houses around them now as they continued to make their way down the main street towards the restaurant. The houses were very quaint looking and come winter they would look just like a Christmas card. The thought made her smile as they approached the door, and she wondered how in the world Reyes would fit his height through it.