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Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 7:09 pm
by Will Stanton
"Mmmf. What..what did you...what happened?"

He sat up in the tub, rubbing his head. "What did you do to me?"

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 6:30 am
by Miriam Bell
"I send the more... righteous and murderous part of you off to where it's more appreciated." she says, leaning against the doorframe, holding an empty wine glass.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 6:33 am
by Will Stanton
Will attempted to struggle to his feet in the tub, leaning heavily on the soap holder to draw himself up.

"And what, exactly, did you think you left behind?"

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 5:46 pm
by Miriam Bell
"To be quite honest, I'm not sure. But I'm rather curious to find out."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 6:46 pm
by Will Stanton
"Well, be sure to send a postcard with how that goes. A journey of self-discovery and reflection. Sure to be made into a hit Disney movie," Will blabbered, climbing out of the tub. "I'll be sure to be first in line to see it at the theater. Keep in touch and all that, and we'll come back and reexamine this in six months."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:17 pm
by Miriam Bell
"And where do you think you're going. Didn't you say I needed somebody to second guess my every move?" she asks, clinking a fingernail against the glass.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:23 pm
by Will Stanton
"Yeah! Yeah, you probably do. You know what, I'm just going to go out and find someone, maybe put an ad in the paper and get some candidates, and we'll rendezvous later" he continued stepping out of the tub and sidling around the wall, headed for the door.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:26 pm
by Miriam Bell
Miriam doesn't move from where she's standing in the doorway.

"And here I thought you'd already volunteered for the position."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:37 pm
by Will Stanton
"Well, I'm a good second-guesser. Just like I'm second-guessing coming here in the first place," he said, scratching the back of his head. "So, if you'd just...move slightly...to one side..."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:42 pm
by Miriam Bell
"Well this won't do at all if you don't want to help me." she says and puts down the empty glass with a sigh. "Come over here." she says and beckons Will over with one finger as she reaches out with her mind to enter Will's head once more.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:46 pm
by Will Stanton
Will immediately started walking forward towards Miriam, as she entered his mindscape again.

It was still recovering from the Miriamquake -- there had been some collateral damage that people were trying to repair -- but all in all, it looked like a job fairly well done, from her point of view.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:44 am
by Miriam Bell
Miriam narrows in on Will's aversion to be here. Searching out his fear and regrets about the current situation to try and find their root. To some extent she already knows what that is, but feeling it out is going to help her isolate it.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:52 am
by Melpomene
Miriam didn't really have to look far. It was simple, really. The past -- the experiences Will had with her universal doppleganger -- were enough to leave anyone cold.

By a pool in the city, with a few Wills sweeping and tidying up from the Miriamquake, was Melpomene -- or, rather, the version who lived in Will's head. Sipping a Cosmopolitan and reading the newspaper, she lounged poolside, dark shades keeping the sun out of her eyes.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:49 am
by Miriam Bell
"About bloody time I dealt with you." she says as she floats down and touches ground next to Mel.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:53 am
by Melpomene
"Ahh, darling. So nice of you to drop by. You're looking a little pale, love, come and tan with me for a bit," Mel smirked.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:23 am
by Miriam Bell
"Enjoy yourself while you can. You're going back in the box. Really appreciate the distinct shape all his memories about have taken in here. Makes it so much easier." Miriam snipes back. She's going for detached but it's clear she's seething with frustration and anger just under the surface.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:27 am
by Melpomene
"Oh, please," Mel said. "I get it, rawr, very frightening and scary. Oz the Great and Powerful and all that. Sit down, stretch your legs, live a little.

I take it the recent redecorating was your work?"

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:34 am
by Miriam Bell
"Every time I have the utter pleasure of talking to you I feel more insulting that Will thinks I could turn into you." she says, intentionally ignoring Mel's barb. "I'll enjoy myself out in the real world while you can rot in here." she adds, bringing her arms up, the pool chair's arm-rests snapping up and wrapping around Mel's mid-section.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:40 am
by Melpomene
"Alright, alright, I surrender," Mel laughed, raising her hands in a mocking way as the armrests wrapped around her midsection.

"Isn't this where you tell me your master plan, and how I'm doomed to failure and all that? We all have our stock roles to play, even if the lines are so corny."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:18 am
by Miriam Bell
"Doomed? You're... an over-ambitious memory. The best you can hope for is to be forgotten. But since you seem to love the dramatic, why don't you come up with some corny last words?" she asks as the chair slowly folds itself into a box, individual slats widening to close the gaps as it grows upwards around Mel.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:23 am
by Melpomene
"Mmm, I'm afraid....not," she smiled.

And with a sudden burst of force, the chair around her buckled outwards and stretched, straining until the metal fatigue caused it to snap, falling around her.

"Memories are things that happened in the past, dear. I very much prefer to live in the now."

She brushed a little bit of debris off of her shoulder, letting it fall to the roof beside her.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:30 am
by Miriam Bell
"Fine, we can do this the hard way." She snaps her arms out to the side and reams of black cloths start wrapping themselves around her, assembling into the cloaked figure of her avatar. One of the strap of cloth suddenly shoots out and wraps itself around Mel's wrist, trying to yank her forward and off the side of the roof.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:32 am
by Melpomene
But Mel stood her ground, bracing herself. She slid a bit forward before her feet sank into the roof of the building, providing her with a much firmer foundation.

"Impressive! VERY impressive. Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised -- after all, we're naturals."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:45 am
by Miriam Bell
"I really don't care what you think, only that you're poisoning Will's opinion of me." she snaps back, holding on to Mel's wrist while two more straps of fabric shoot down and into the roof. A moment later the ground under Mel's feet sinks even deeper as it turns to clay that tugs on her.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:52 am
by Melpomene
"And what opinion do you WANT!" she called, as she started to sink down into the clay. "USE your anger. FOCUS it. Why are you here?"

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 12:49 am
by Miriam Bell
"Because I need a friend. I need... somebody! Maybe not to babysit me, like Will thinks, but I need..." The robes of her avatar flare a little as she cuts herself off. "What do you care, you're what ruined Will's opinion of me in the first place!"

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 5:23 am
by Melpomene
"Believe it or not, Miriam, you're not going to find someone who understands you more than yours truly. I've been where you are now -- alone, scared, looking to someone for human contact.

You may not like me or what I stand for or what I represent, but if Will sees me in you, that's because we're not that different, you and I."

With a little effort, she rose out of the clay. "You want Will to forget all about me? I'm in every rock and every tree, every sight and every sound. You want Will to save you? Maybe, just maybe, he needs to be saved first. And, darling, you're going to get nowhere with the whole goth-angsty 'I'm sad because I make bad choices' thing, or the attempting to solve problems by smashing them, repeatedly, with your forehead."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 5:42 pm
by Miriam Bell
"Saved from what if not from you?" she asks, the masks of her avatar keeping a wary eye on Mel.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 8:47 pm
by Melpomene
"Oh, nothing but me. You're convinced I'm slandering your name? Well, that's all in the eye of the beholder, darling, but you're not going to fix the problem by yelling and hitting things.

Come, sit, let's talk. Let's put our cards on the table here. There's no reason we can't all get what we want. A win-win-win situation."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 9:00 pm
by Miriam Bell
"The eye of the beholder? After what you put him through it's no wonder he can't help but see the worst in me."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 9:31 pm
by Melpomene
"Mmm. You're getting all of that from him, of course -- very one-sided -- but nevermind, darling; my ego can take a few bruises," she said with a laugh and a shrug.

"Admittedly, my goals were a bit different than yours -- or, rather, my methods were -- but we're really not all that different, here. We can both recognize an opportunity when one comes knocking on our door, looking to kill us."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:05 pm
by Miriam Bell
"That's not the point. I don't want him to see you when he sees me and I'm not going to twist his mind so much that he's okay with what you did..." she says, although she's beginning to realize just throwing a metaphorical rug over the whole thing might not suffice.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:30 pm
by Melpomene
"Of course not, darling, you want to stand out and be alone.

You don't want to re-contextualize me; you want to replace me. Isn't that right?"

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:34 pm
by Miriam Bell
"If that's how you want to put it, yes."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:40 pm
by Melpomene
"Well, then, darling, the world is your oyster. I'm just here because I spent so much time and effort; you can say that I helped make Will the man he is today. But that's all in the past; if you're willing to get your hands dirty, you could find yourself sipping Bloody Mary Bells on the beach here indefinitely."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:49 pm
by Miriam Bell
"Hilarious." she says dryly. "I don't mind getting my hands dirty, I just don't want to... make him do anything. Just level the playing field so he can see me without preconceived notions again, like he did before." she says, either not realizing or not admitting to herself that there's not really much of a difference.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 10:52 pm
by Melpomene
"Well, there's your first problem, then.

You said you wanted a friend. If that's all you want, then that's easy enough, I suppose -- clean house and start from scratch. But I suspect that's not what you really want. You want Will, with all the baggage that brings with it. And lord, is there plenty of baggage in here."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:13 am
by Miriam Bell
"Yes and you're the only baggage that really gets in the way. The obvious thing to put back in the box."

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 12:22 am
by Melpomene
"And you suppose that would work, do you? Carve out the bit you don't like and leave the rest, untouched? Let's say we tried that with you, taking out something. Let's say a little accident? Do you suppose you'd be the same on the other side?" she said, swirling her drink.

Re: Last Christmas

PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2018 4:19 pm
by Miriam Bell
"Fuck you." she snarls at Mel, mostly because she has a point. But maybe she doesn't have to tear her out... Just shift his perspective. She kneels down and tears out a chunk of ground that turns into clay in her hands. "But maybe you and your transgressions could be useful." she says and throws the lump of clay at Mel's face. On a less metaphorical level Miriam is reaching out for all the memories connected to Mel and as the clay grabbing on to her face slowly quivers and shifts the change ripples out, Mel's face in all the memories melting and rearranging itself into the one that the clay stuck to her face is taking on. That of a certain Irish red-head.