[closed] I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each

[hearthebell]

Who: L Lawliet (Linden Tailor) and Alex Benedetto
When: Evening of 3/30
Where: Out and about, ending up at Alex's place
What: L's living situation is transient at the moment. Mello's crush catches him dozing in public and wants to feed him a hot meal.
Warnings: None planned! Will update if needed.



[Lately, L's routine has settled into something a little more stable and content. He spends time with his one healthy Bonded, but not too much time; in L's experience, the more people get to know him, the more they dislike him. He wants to keep Myr in his life, and so his current approach is careful, steady, back off before you become an intolerable presence to the person who still somehow cares about you.

Mello, rather, is a Bond he deserves... but that's a volatile and complicated situation at the best of times. Better to stay away entirely, for now, and the result is that while L's work and studies are flourishing, finding a reliable place to rest his head is once again difficult. He tends to go until he can't, and then pay for an inn or drop in on Myr, if enough time has passed that it feels like an acceptable imposition, but occasionally, even just taking a moment to take a load off can become a dangerous slip-up.

His form is recognizable even from a distance, slumped slightly on a park bench, perhaps appearing deep in thought at first glance. Closer scrutiny reveals that he is nearly chin-to-chest, dozing.]

Comments

[hearthebell]

[It's... maybe been just a little while. He's the sort who forgets, if there's enough going on, or if something else is gnawing holes in his stomach to the point of distraction.

With his mouth so full, it's a moment before he can answer. He uses the back of his bony hand to wipe some soup away from his lips.]

I don't want to take your dinner.

[But, if she's offering... he looks like he could.]

[sing_for_me]

[ Alex let's out a soft chuckle as she stands to grab the pot. ]

I already ate, don't worry about it.

[ Scooping a ladle full, she pours more of these out onto his bowl. ]

I know we don't know each other all that well, but you don't need to worry about anything. I really just want to do this.

[ But maybe he wouldn't believe her anyway. ]

[hearthebell]

If you actually want to, as a host, I suppose it would be rude of me to question that or decline.

[A nice little justification for why accepting hospitality is still OK. He'll be continuing to rationalize it in small ways throughout the visit, to the point where Alex might begin to feel mild exasperation at all of it. Like Mello, L has his damages that manifest in small ways nearly constantly, but... also like Mello, he's not without some redeeming and even endearing qualities.

He slurps slightly at his soup when he drinks it, eating a little more carefully and slowly now that the initial desperation of hunger has been eased a bit.]

I've been wondering something. How similar is this world to the one you came from?

[A comfort, maybe, that Mello hasn't even told L that much about her past.]

[sing_for_me]

[ His response gets a good natured scoff and a small smile from Alex as she pours some more soup onto his bowl. She always wondered what went on in M's mind, and she was starting to think the same about Linden.

She's returning the small pot back to the stove when he asks his question. It wasn't one she hasn't been asked before, and certainly one she has inquired about herself with others. ]

They're quite different, I'd say. It's more modern, and way less conservative. Doesn't look anywhere as nice or as safe as here either. If there was anything similar...

[ Her thoughts drift towards the infected that lived outside the city. ]

The way the monsters and the people living outside the walls are treated-- that, but have them blocked within the city instead. It's not like the best lot were living in there to begin with, but...there's a certain group of people that gets treated the worst. And for something they can't really help.

[ She returns to her seat, hands circling around her cup once again. ]

What..was it like for you in your world?

[hearthebell]

[In some ways, what goes on in the two men's minds are exactly the same; in other ways they are perfect opposites, and not complementary ones. In fact, it seems to tax L rather than revitalize him or give him purpose in his life.]

So segregation exists in your world, too. What do the people who get treated the worst have in common, that they can't help?

[He murmurs it, taking longer breaks between bites because he's no longer so ravenously famished.

As with all questions about himself and his life, he answers carefully.]

There aren't any nonhuman monsters where Mello and I are from. The technology is more modern, though... not so much as what some have reported using in their pre-mirror lives. Magic exists in stories, but... only clever illusions, in reality. There are countries, with... governments, and law enforcement, and criminals, and they're always at war with one another.

[L didn't actually answer the question, about what life was like for him, specifically. Maybe by design.]