(Untitled)

[unbiaseddeath]

Characters: Melinoe, Phonos [COMPLETED.]
Date/Time: Late night of the 15th, during work.
Location: Their work (the morgue at the state hospital).
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None?
Summary: Melinoe is curious about kissing, Phonos is awkward.

Comments

[meli_mollifies]

Melinoe had been teaching herself to keep her chatting with the ones who always found her to a minimum, especially in public, even though they seemed to fade into the background when other living were present. She couldn't decide if it was because they were trying to be respectful of her or if the living had an advantage to having more energy behind their presence; such as a beating heart. Tonight, the particular victim that Phonos (she was getting better with calling him by his working name) was examining had gotten into her face more than once, angry at the world and everything about it and decided that he wanted her dead because she wasn't doing anything to help.

It was a pretty good time to take a break. Usually that meant peeking in at Phonos, getting a cup of tea or both. Meli stood and stretched, making a point to ignore her 'guest' and made her way to Benjamin's work space. With a gentle knock, she opened the door and poked her head inside.

"Your patient is restless," she mused quietly. "I was just going for some tea and I thought I'd see if you'd like some as well."

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos dropped the last bullet into the metal tray with a distinct clang, glancing up as he heard Melinoe's voice. Murder glanced down to the still body and then looked back to her again, both amused and a little confused about her ability to speak with them. He walked away from the body and toward the counter to drop one of the bloodied towels into the laundry bin marked with a biohazard symbol.

"I am restless," he replied quietly. "There is something I am missing with another victim here. For Murder to be unaware of his own methods is.. uncomfortable."

His lip twitched for a split second into a regretful smile, an involuntary gesture of the humanity he had buried within himself somewhere. Phonos set the tweezers in the sink farther down the counter, then turned around to lean against the counter's edge, keeping his bloodied gloves hanging with nonchalance in the air. "I am not presently interested in tea, thank you."

[meli_mollifies]

She gave a short nod to his answer regarding the tea, but it was what he said before that made her perk up a little more. "What do you believe you are missing?" Meli's head canted gently as she came further into the room. It made her curious to see Phonos puzzled by something that wasn't there in relation to something that he was a part of.

Death was something of a curiosity for Melinoe, even though her life had always been a part of it. She handled much of the after--the souls who were unhappy needed to be appeased so they would avoid haunting the living before going into the Underworld. She had never been overly comfortable with the how they passed on. Being in the presence of a dying mortal was incredibly unsettling: There really was nothing like experiencing a spirit fighting to stay with its mortal, dying host.

[unbiaseddeath]

"I do not know," he admitted with a tension in his voice, revealing the truth of his discomfort. Phonos hated that he was feeling more than he used to as much as he hated not knowing what it was. Were he himself again, the Phonoi, he would know; being this mortal made him so very limited in his perspective that he found it difficult even to function at times.

Finally he shifted his gaze over toward her. Though he knew that she could speak with the dead, he would never ask her to interfere with his own work by asking them; it was disrespectful, distasteful, and a disgusting idea that he should even need to consider the thought. "A wound. Some causality. The facts are plausible, but not likely; enough for our superiors to accept, but not entirely correct."

He paused. "Or, perhaps, I am only used to more proficient Killing."

[meli_mollifies]

She looked Phonos over for a bit, taking note of his uneasiness of the matter at hand. Being mortal and imperfect in what he was made to do would make anyone distressed. He was generally so logical and calculated in his ways that his frustration was easy to pick up on. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it fascinated her to see him like this. To see that none of them were perfect right now.

"Poison? Drugged? Not all murder requires a wound, Phonos." Melinoe smoothed down her knee-length kohl colored skirt as she closed a bit of the gap between the two of them. "No blunt-force?" Much as she could tell him anything he likely wanted to know, she knew he wouldn't be happy about it. The dead often spoke in volumes, offering names, motives and the how. What they were thinking and wondering why it was them. "You should not be so hard on yourself. Missing something is not your fault. Not now."

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos was more oblivious even than usual regarding her own thoughts and expressions in this moment. He was consumed with this idea, even while he had been working on the new victim. While it did not bother him to multitask and he could do it quite well--he had yet to make any mistakes--everything felt slightly disorganized as of late. He knew it best not to work actively when his mind was both engaged on the former crime and with Melinoe.

"None of the above," he replied matter-of-factly before finally shaking the thoughts from his mind. "I am certain I will discover it when I look again."

His eyes pulled from their absent state to focus on her again. "How are you?"

[meli_mollifies]

"Well enough," she replied with the release of a sigh, not unlike the one she offered in her own frustration only this one was far more mild. "As I said, your patient has been restless and rather angry. Other than that, it's been reasonably quiet out there." It was small talk, sure. There wasn't anything terribly exciting happening aside from the random phone call from the NYPD or frantic individual searching for the answers as to whether or not their loved one had been sent there. Some of those particular calls broke her heart.

She searched Phonos' features for some sign of anything other than his preoccupation with the victim who'd occupied the table before the current resident and decided that other than his frustration, there was nothing other than his stoic self. Just the same, Melinoe offered a pretty smile and reached out, touching his arm briefly. "I'm going for that tea, now. Perhaps you should consider a break for yourself at some point. State law, you know."

[unbiaseddeath]

"I apologize for my patient," he replied without a hint of irony or sarcasm, giving her something almost resembling a smile. Phonos was capable of pleasant moods, after all. Given all the recent dramatics at the complex, he didn't mind the small talk at all. Though he had first found himself forming an attachment to Makaria, her recent behaviors did not make sense to him and, in the meantime, Melinoe had begun to earn an attachment of her own. An 'attachment' seemed the best word, given that he would not call it a friendship or relationship.

His gaze flicked down to her touch and then back up again without remark. He was not used to physical contact, but he was not adamantly against it either. Not when he was fully clothed in a situation he felt control over, at least; unlike his marriage to Makaria.

"My hands are a mess and I still have to document the bullet fragments." He was wearing gloves, of course, but the gloves were filthy and some of the blood extended up onto his arms from earlier spinal examination. While most considered it unhygienic, Slaughter did not care so much. "I will take a break when this portion of my work is completed. It is your choice what you do during that time."

It was as close as he would come to suggesting she could stay and wait for him, to take their breaks together. It was not logical to ask such a favor when he had no specific need for it and, as he could not justify the want of attention when reveling in silence only a moment before, Phonos was keen to ignore it anyway.

[meli_mollifies]

Before Meli could say anything, the phone chirping at her desk in the reception area made her take a quick glance at the door, and then back at him. "I'll... get that and you finish up and perhaps we could simply take our breaks together." She spun on a heel, making a quick jog for the door and then down the hallway for her desk, scooping up the receiver in the nick of time.

It was a reasonably simple, regular call. Looking up a name on the hospital's database for the homicide detective calling from his precinct and whether or not any new information had been discovered during autopsy. Melinoe had to make a note for Phonos to call, since the detective had far more questions than 'Marilee Green' had answers for. Opening her desk drawer, she simply reached in to where her pens would usually rest inside. Instead of smooth plastic, her fingers touched a rectangular wooden box.

She frowned at the sudden discovery without time to readily investigate, searching for any old pen(which most often didn't seem to work well) to take down a name and number. After that task was accomplished and the phone hung up, Melinoe took the small box out to examine. Attached to it was a note:

Property of Marilee
-P.

Inside the box was a very very nice fountain pen. A pen that executive types seem to have on hand all the time--at least, that's what Meli had gathered from her movie-watching. The only 'P' that she knew that would readily know her here at work was the individual down the hall fishing out pieces of shrapnel from a man's chest, and it was then that she vaguely recalled talking to herself about how much she disliked the pens here. He must've been within earshot.

Some strange fluttering went about Melinoe's stomach as she stood from her desk and walked towards the examination room that Phonos was working in. The feeling intensified as she walked in without knocking and, with that feeling of heat rising in her cheeks, walked over to him, took his face between her small, soft hands, and pressed her lips against his in a very... sweet and yet... so very awkward kiss.

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos nodded to Melinoe as she left, then returned to his work. He moved over toward the table to fetch the dish and bullet, returning to the counter to set them aside. First he turned on the water to rinse the tweezers; then set them into a smaller unit to flush them with isopropyl alcohol, a method of sterilizing tools.

He glanced up when she entered and turned to face her as she approached him. Because of the blood and gloves on his hands, he could not particularly do anything to stop her; Phonos was trapped between Melinoe and the counter, should he even consider stepping away. Realizing in a split second that his options were enormously limited, hands still idling in the air to avoid touching her, his mind quickly processed the best course of action: reciprocation seemed logical.

He tilted his head slightly to accommodate her gesture, pressing very gently into the kiss. It was a mortal act of affection and, though it did not hold the intimacy for him that he expected it should, he was surprised to find he did not mind it either. When she broke the kiss, Phonos didn't move, he just looked down at her. An explanation would be ideal, a conversation or additional attempt acceptable, a departure uncomfortable; he waited.

[meli_mollifies]

"Um." Her blue eyes blinked several times from behind the frame of dark lashes, her cheeks were about five shades darker than when she had first come into the room. Her heart was beating awfully fast, and she almost regretted doing what she'd just done. Why had she kissed him? Phonos was not the type to be readily thrilled about something like that. And it wasn't that she didn't find him attractive as a mortal, but things like this were not in his frame of mind.

She knew this. So why? At least her curiosity of a kiss was satisfied, and although he did respond, to him it was likely a logical process instead of simply rejecting her by turning away.

"Thanks." Meli cleared her throat and took three steps backwards from him and towards the door. "For, um. For the pen. It's really very nice." She found it a bit difficult to speak. Her face felt hot and feverish. "Really. I'm... sorry, Phonos. I should not have done that." Her gaze found the floor readily interesting right at that moment.

[unbiaseddeath]

The kiss was not necessarily uncomfortable itself, but her reaction to it was making him a little bit. He did not deal well with emotions, particularly the concept of embarrassment, so he found it difficult to understand why she was reacting the way she was. Though anxiety teased his mind, he cast it aside as best he could in order to function reasonably. "I am glad you like the pen. You have no reason to apologize unless you intended ill upon me. I would like to know why you chose to do so, however."

There was nothing in his voice impatient, accusing, or demeaning. Rather, he was sincerely curious and logical as always. When he could not understand, he tried to ask; when asking failed, that was when anxiety gnawed at his thoughts. There were physical responses in her as well, of course. He could see the blushing and the steps, the slight change in posture and the way she averted her eyes, but all of them were reactions to the event he understood as a what, it was only the why he was missing.

[meli_mollifies]

She tried to come up with something of a logical answer for him. She failed to have a good one. "It felt like the right thing to do," was her soft reply. "Because I wanted to. I..." Meli paused when her backside hit the wall next to the door she was attempting to escape through. "I am finding that I do enjoy our time spent together, even if quite a bit of it is here at work. The place seems to suit the both of us. And..." Oh, just say it. "I, against perhaps my better judgment, am attracted to you to some extent."

Oh, she felt like a schmuck. Where had she heard that term? Ah, yes. The old Jewish man who spoke Yiddish who passed on before she'd left the funeral home. "So, I completely understand that you wouldn't harbor something like this because, well, you're you and I know it is not something that you think about. Emotions are not really something for you, and unfortunately, though I had them before, this mortal existence has heightened my own." Melinoe, much to her chagrin, came to the realization that she was rambling quickly, and grasped for the door handle, failing miserably as she was on the opposite side of it.

"So. No. There was no ill towards you. None at all." She felt like such an idiot.

[unbiaseddeath]

To say that Phonos was not expecting such a reply would be a gross understatement. He stared at her, as bewildered by her sudden awkwardness and rambling as by the words she actually spoke. More than her sentiments about liking him, however, he was caught up on her judgments of him; he had not realized she thought so poorly of him. Or perhaps it was only how she made it sound now. He still did not move from where he was against the counter, arms spread open with bloodied hands in the air.

"Why am I against your better judgment?" Because that was clearly the most important part, followed shortly by, "And you are assuming I am incapable of 'harboring' attractions, is that correct?"

More than anything else, Murder appeared confused. Even when drunk, he had never felt so uneven as he did now; marriage had been merely uncomfortable, but Makaria was in the same place as he was with the discomfort. This was different. He and Melinoe had entirely different opinions and, though the anxiety would set in later, right now it was only shock and confusion.

[meli_mollifies]

None of her rambling had come out the way she'd wanted it to, and Phonos' reaction had proven it. She shook her head and waved her hand as though trying to dismiss his doubts. And perhaps her own. "It is not you personally that would be against my better judgment, but, I am not entirely sure that my attraction to you would compare to any that you may or may not have. You do work for Hades at times and we--you and I work together."

Melinoe sighed and stopped trying to reach for her great escape. "You can put your arms down, now. I promise I will not try to kiss you without warning." A faint smirk painted her features before she folded her arms over her chest. "And it isn't that I do not think you capable of harboring attractions, but it can be difficult to tell if you do. You are very stoic and have your ways and I do not know how you process emotions and hormones and all that comes with being mortal. I'll be honest, Phonos. This is the most emotion I've ever seen in you."

[unbiaseddeath]

It was the second child of Hades' to reference Phonos' working for the lord as if it was an automated conflict of interests this week and he didn't understand it any more now than he did then. He was about to respond when she told him he could lower his arms and he blinked, not realizing he hadn't. His arms fell slowly to rest on the throw-away 'gown' he was required to wear for his occupation here, the same kind surgeons wore, he was told. The promise was noted and dismissed as unimportant.

Phonos stared at her in silence after she spoke, his left eye actually beginning to twitch before he even realized it was. Then Murder closed his eyes to regain control of his own muscles, more furious than he would begin to convey or to speak that he was succumbing to emotions at all. Simultaneously, he was pleased to hear that she believed him capable of it as it was an affirmation of his married future, a chance to find happiness here that he could not yet imagine. It intrigued and angered him both in unison.

When he opened his eyes again, Slaughter had returned and his emotions were pressed back once again. "You are correct in your judgments. I am spirits not meant for any such affections as your parents."

There was a very short pause and his voice darkened just a hint. "Be gone, Melinoe. I have work to do and you are obviously uncomfortable here."