Questions of science; science and progress [Closed/ Incomplete]

[meli_mollifies]

Characters: Melinoe & Phonos
Date/Time: April 1st; 11:30 p.m.
Location: O'Shae's Bar & Grill
Rating: PG-13 (We'll play it by ear)
Warnings: Drinking and drinking and possibly some fighting
Summary: Meli's had just about all she can tolerate; and it doesn't help that the new testosterone has shortened her patience. Phonos is coming to keep an eye

Comments

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos entered the bar awkwardly, oblivious to the fact that his current red dress was drawing more stares than he might have liked. His concern was to find Melinoe and prevent her from engaging in any behaviors she might regret and not much else particularly registered. He was even primarily oblivious to the couple men that rubbed up against him on their way past, not considering the differing reactions he might get in this body.

He made his way to the bar, casting a glance around the patrons nearby. A man walked up and threw his arm around her shoulders, asking if he might buy her a drink. Phonos declined that he would be receiving nothing in return and thus the costs would not outweigh the potential for gain; the man called him a freak and moved away. Fortunately, the action enabled Murder to spot who he believed was Melinoe farther down the bar and he returned into the crowd to make his way over to the man.

"Are you?--" Phonos' expression actually flinched for a split second as he realized he had no way of confirming Melinoe's identity in a publicly acceptable way. He only hoped that she would tell him.

[meli_mollifies]

Melinoe glanced up at the raven-haired woman standing next to her; far more fascinating than the baseball game on television that she had been staring at for nearly an hour. Her stomach flipped once in appreciation, thankfully out of what her internal reaction was to who she assumed was Phonos and not because her liquor was not sitting well. The voice had sounded reasonably familiar and deadpan.

"Murphy," she replied slowly, running a too-big hand over her now stubbled face. Just another thing to worry about: Shaving her face. "Marilee seems to have misplaced herself." Catching the bartender's eye, Melinoe motioned for another drink. "Want anything or are you just going to look at me all night?"

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos gave a nod at the new name to remember and was appreciative of the clarification to ensure he had the right person. He stood awkwardly beside her for a beat before she asked him if he would be drinking as well, glancing at the bartender and then back to her him her. "I will drink if it would make you more comfortable."

It was not as if it was the first time he would be drinking. Unfortunately, it didn't really cross his mind that his female form would likely get drunk faster than his usual body, but that was something he did not yet need to worry about. For now, he took a seat beside her because he trusted she would not shoo him away at the moment. "How many drinks have you had already, Mar-- Murphy?"

[meli_mollifies]

"Doesn't matter what I want. It's your choice to drink or not." Her shoulders shrugged reasonably indifferently. Melinoe, at this point, would not have cared if the roof caved in on fire and all on top of her. It didn't stop the fact that she did give a damn about the individual standing next to her.

"How many? I honestly could not tell you. I lost count after the first inning." She motioned to the television that hung on the wall. The ball game playing out on the west coast was well into the third. "And I got here before the game started."

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos frowned. He did not like endeavoring to make decisions which may negatively affect others when he did not understand the logic of why they might be offended. After a moment's calculation, he deemed the risk of drinking was less than the risk of upsetting Melinoe and he gave a delicate nod. "I will drink."

Murder crossed his legs as he might normally have done, but he did pay attention to ensure that his dress remained at its proper length. After all, the last thing he needed was anyone else thinking that they would like to engage in physical affection with him; the man did not care about this form, but he had not yet known any physical contact to be particularly pleasant. Excepting one circumstance, of course, but that had had its own share of disasters to follow.

"How many more do you intend?" He asked softly of her, assuring himself that it was logical to wish she should not be injured, as it might jeopardize his reputation with her family-- including Hades; it was only logic.

[meli_mollifies]

As if her eyes had a mind of their own, likely no real thanks to her current gender, they watched Phonos cross his legs. That feeling from before with the random girl crept up again, and the drink sitting in front of her was much more appealing to avoid the issue. "Vodka tonic for my associate, please," was said to the very patient bartender. This particular patron, though completely blitzed and obviously pained about something--the woman, he suspected, had been very good about keeping to himself. He would call a cab for him when it was time to go.

"As many as I can tolerate or until they kick me out of here. How many are you intending to have?" Melinoe smirked without humor at the shortstop on the screen gloving the baseball. The shortstop didn't seem to care.

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos was oblivious to her gaze and distressed to find that his mind recently far more taken to thinking of the emotional aspects of situations rather than the tangible and obvious processes. He gave a small smile and nod to the bartender in a feigned sort of modesty that humans seemed to like, then looked at Melinoe again. He would drink whatever it was that she ordered for him because he had no reason not to.

"I will have three if you agree to return to the complex with me after. We cannot stay until you are forcibly removed without risking arrest and to be arrested without current identification would be unwise," he replied, much in his usual fashion. As an unintentional afterthought, he added, "I do not desire you to suffer any negative consequence as a result of my ignorance."

There was the briefest flash of surprise in his expressions before he recovered and returned to evenness.

[meli_mollifies]

She more or less ignored the first part of what Phonos had to say. It was the last bit that made her look over and frown. "'m not suffering. 'm quite enjoying myself." A hint of sarcasm with a dash of melancholy made for a bitter comment.

"Besides. It was my fault it even got to this point, so you'll forgive my self-flagellation." Melinoe tossed back the shot she had been provided with and quickly motioned for another as a sudden and somewhat random thought occurred to her. "You look very nice, for the record." Meli wasn't overly interested in continuing the fight that her current companion seemed to want to douse time and time again. She knew, though, it would rekindle. It always did.

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos opened his mouth to respond to her first remark, but quieted as her second came and then was caught in a moment of shock and surprise at his third. While his normal response might have been to dismiss the remark as irrelevant, he was more concerned with preventing alcohol poisoning at this juncture. "Thank you. I desire for us to leave."

He sipped at his drink and was glad that he did not mind the taste. Then, after a beat, he downed the remainder as quickly as possible and was surprised as the glistening of his eyes that followed the strong taste. In a move somewhat uncharacteristic, yet still logical, he looked over at Melinoe. "Tell me what I need to do to remove you from this place before you succumb to illness."

[meli_mollifies]

"Have two more of your drinks. You said three." Melinoe held up three fingers to prove her point. "And I have no doubt that I shall be quite ill after this in the morning. Or whenever I wake up. It might be the best sleep I've had in weeks."

Another drink for Phonos was acquired. "Tell me why you're here. Thisissn't just about you keeping an eye on me." Yes, her speech was slurring--it had been for a time, but as more of the booze settled further, it was taking a hold on her. When she had first started drinking, Melinoe did start out slowly. But by the time Phonos had arrived, it just didn't seem to matter to her what sort of mess she would be the following day, mainly because all the thoughts and events of what had been transpiring with she and Phonos just made it worse.

She wanted to cry, but refrained, and looked down at her all-wrong hands. "Why do you have such a hard time believing me?"

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos grimaced slightly at her reminder of three drinks, but he took his second drink in hand as it arrived and began to sip at it. He was watching her the entire time. Though she was not in her normal body, the subtleties of expression were still absolutely hers and the way her hands moved and her posture angled were all familiar gestures of the person he had enjoyed spending time with during their working hours.

He was snapped from his reverie at her question, having been absolutely dreading the potential emergence of this discussion. With a heavy swallow of the lump in his throat and an uncomfortable expression for a moment, Phonos found himself still having difficulty in knowing how to answer, so he began with the easier pseudo-question. "I am here to ensure you are not injured, arrested, or taken overly ill until your return. I would be responsible for any woe to befall you and I am not interested in allowing it to occur."

Picking up his drink, he took a series of sips, already over halfway completed with his second drink. He hated the noise of this place, the crowds, and the way people looked at them. Phonos wanted to return to the relative safety of the complex, where he felt he could be himself: where he could be Slaughter without the facade of humility.

Finishing the rest of his drink, during a short silence between them, he finally addressed the other question, admitting more than he might have normally liked to and wondering why even as he spoke. "I am willing to sacrifice the positive emotions of humanity to avoid the negative."

[meli_mollifies]

"Really," she muttered, finally turning to look Phonos in the face. "Howssat working out for you?" Meli sat up a little straighter, though a bit unsteadily and sighed. "Every human being in the world wishes that they could have one without the other. And the ones that avoid it the most have no concept of appreciation for the things that they do have. For the people that they have." Despite her very drunk state, the way Melinoe felt about what she had to say and what she had experienced in her former life and in this one were plainly etched on her face. "Issa delicate balance that this entire minuscule planet has. You cannot have one without the other."

For the first time all night, she actually held up her hand as the bartender readied another drink for her. The rest of it would kick in soon enough. "Just as there is life, there must be death. Where there is despair, there is hope. What you choose to do with your emotions while you're here is up to you." Melinoe frowned deeply at this point and bit her lip, searching the ever-familiar eyes of Phonos. "I ask that you do not ask questions that you are not willing to accept answers to, for I have lost my patience with your asking something one moment and then throwing it back into my face with your fucking logic the next. Emotions are not always logical. You have them. You need to deal with them because if you do not, you will feel far, far worse than you would expect to. If you do not want to try and understand, I cannot help you."

This made her pause and reflect briefly on what she'd just said. "But you seem to want neither help or explanation. And yet, you concern yourself with the things I do that are unpleasant to you. I suppose you need to help me understand you."

[unbiaseddeath]

"I am not desiring one without the other. I am desiring neither," he clarified with a frown, his lip forming into an unintentional pout. Phonos agreed with her that it was unfair to take one without the other, but that's why he did not want emotion at all. Her rejection of a drink distracted him from his upset and he was pleased without, as before, fully understanding why. Begrudgingly, however, he accepted a third drink for himself as she spoke, watching her.

He listened to her, even as she spoke things he did not want to hear, as Helenus had recommended. It occurred to him that he was having a slightly harder time than normal focusing on what she was saying, eyes admiring her new form for a moment and then returning attention for only a moment before drifting to thoughts of the night that had started all of this, to the kiss. Were he more inebriated, he might have kissed her then. Fortunately, he was still enough in control of his emotions.

"Very well. I will endeavor not to ask such questions." He did not know what else to say without spurring an argument; the spirit still disagreed with most of her sentiments. Phonos quickly downed half of his drink, still anxious to leave. "I concern myself because you are pleasant to me."

...Wait. Something was amiss in the situation that just unfolded, but Phonos couldn't quite figure out what it was as his mind continued to cloud.

[meli_mollifies]

The initial answer was typical. And unfortunately, no matter how much Phonos wanted neither, as a human and mortal, he was subject to have it all. How he wanted to take care of it was a whole other matter entirely.

What gave Melinoe pause was the final thing that he had said: "I concern myself because you are pleasant to me." She narrowed her eyes slightly, looking over his features to make sure that she hadn't missed something--she was trying to convince herself that she'd heard him wrong.

"That is the laast thing I would have ever esspected you to say to me. I've done nothin' but be a thorn in your shide ever since that night." Her currently masculine features softened, but in a more confused and sad way than happy. She wanted to kiss him, desperately, but instead watched him drink. Watched the way he moved. "What, then, makes me pleasant to you?"

[unbiaseddeath]

Phonos realized what he had said just before she responded to it, discomfort and anxiety he hadn't realized he had both doubling almost instantly. Murder finished the rest of his drink almost immediately, then fished the cigarette case housing his identification and money out of the strap of the bra Makaria has given to him (it was the logical place to keep it). He pulled out a large sum, enough to undoubtedly cover everything they had both had and more, and quickly dropped it on the bar. Then he returned the case to its hidden place beneath his dress.

Without saying anything, and partially without thinking at this point, he reached out to take Melinoe's masculine hand in his feminine one while he stood. Then Phonos was making his way toward the door, hoping that Melinoe would follow along with him. He needed to be out of this place of noise and people, to find solitude and isolation in the darkness and the night. If he was to be forced to have this conversation, he would have in a place that he felt comfortable in.

[meli_mollifies]

Melinoe, in her inebriated state, contemplated the money that Phonos had thrown onto the bar. For him to pay for her was just silly, and the bartender had one of those expressions of, "Dude, you just need to go home."

The touch of Phonos's hand snapped her back into some sense of the moment, and she tried to recall a time when Phonos had ever willingly touched her. Drawing a blank, Meli stood, albeit a bit more wobbly than she would have cared for as her legs felt quite heavy right then, and allowed for the very beautiful, very feminine version of the man she'd cared so much for to lead her outside.

The air felt insanely good; a perfect, though short remedy to her hot, flushed face. The problem at this point is that she was suddenly feeling as though she'd forced Phonos to do something he didn't especially want to. She was incredibly curious as to where they were going, though she kept her thoughts to herself.