1.03 Time to Play Along

Class was mind-numbing and felt a little gimmicky. As if there was an academic need to to lure students into a false sense of brilliance by forcing them to lug around heavy equipment, and then force them to use that equipment in public places through some form of mass embarrassment-based mind control by which all the money the school took from them became justified. Dustin wasn't by any means a rebel, but he was starting to see the appeal of their arguments. Nobody ever tested with a higher IQ after getting out of one of these 'brain enhancement' sessions.

Dustin was getting progressively more exhausted as time drug on at university. Losing a good friend was probably a part of the slight depression he was feeling now however.

Tired after a long day of study, class, (breaking up with her long term boyfriend) and being a test subject for the sake of science, Meghan decides to have dinner out at the local cafe. She points to the top right of the case and asks for one of the small pot pies.

“That's a cinnamon roll.” The old man behind the counter says with a patronizing smile.

She looks the 'rolls' over and sees absolutely no cinnamon and makes a face. “Do you have something more substantial, like with protein? It's been a long day and all I had was a nauseating nougat bar that was in my backpack from the start of the semester.”

The man shrugs unapologetically. “I suppose you could always just have a glass of soy milk.”

She orders it, trying to keep back her disappointment. Dustin was probably cooking something right now that would be so much better than this. Anything homemade and hot would be a welcome change actually.

She didn't want to face Loki just now. Then again, when had she ever been able to stand up to him?

She'd liked him because of his confidence, an attribute that she also was attracted to in Dustin. It was something she had to work at to have that was difficult for her, something they both made seem so effortless. She didn't even want to order this but she didn't want to disappoint the barista, when would she begin doing things on her own and grow a backbone?

That's what makes the scientific process so appealing: there's a direct path to success, and she's the beginning and the end of every one of her projects. Nobody can take her hard work away from her.

She gives up after about fifteen more minutes and heads back home, just in time to share some mac & cheese with her best friend. Well, he's probably more than that now, but what is that really?

She'd come in, put her backpack down in the front room and gone to wash up. By the time she went to get some food a bowl was already ready and waiting for her on the dining room table.

She doesn't say much which is fine with him; they're in the same room finally and sometimes that's all it takes.

“There was another costume party tonight.” He explains about his outfit. “You can go with me next time if you like, you probably wouldn't want to waste a sample but all the other geeks usually start tossing random left overs from class on the fire, changing the colors of the smoke. You might have fun.”

“You callin' me a geek?” She breaks her silence, glad he's not talking about some more difficult topic.

He shrugs and smiles out of the side of his mouth. “If the labcoat fits...”

She goes to kick him under the table but he moves his foot out of the way at the last second, chuckling. “You're so slow.” He mocks.

She spends the next few minutes trying to pin his foot to the leg of the table with hers while she eats. Another game he wins, stupid as it was. He easily holds her foot hostage below the table as he chews another bite, his eyes shining a bit with amusement.

“Are you okay, Drea?” His voice sobers after a moment, he lets her foot go from where it was captive and just nudges the tip of her shoe with his. The name he used is a sure sign that Loki's in the house, and she rolls her eyes. “I'm fine. It was a long time coming really.”

“That doesn't mean it was easy for you.”

Her face falls a bit. “Yeah I screwed up, didn't I? But it's not like we even slept in the same room together. Uhm. So it wasn't that serious.”

“Is that what it takes to convince you that you're cared about?” He wonders, realizing belatedly that he's said it out loud.

“What do you mean by 'that'?” She asks, and his mind provides him a helpful image.

He opens his mouth to speak- and how was he supposed to talk his way out of this one- but there's a creak at the stairs and silence falls over the room as Loki enters it.

There's nothing awkward about the next few moments.

Suddenly they're both finished eating and Loki is left to eat by himself. Meghan excuses herself to the restroom.

Dustin is frustrated, and more than happy that the semester will be over soon. All he wants right now is another moment alone with her, but before finals he doubts he'll get one. Loki's going to be in the way forever.

Meghan retreats too quickly and has yet another moment of self-realization. She was going to avoid Loki for the rest of her life if she didn't fix things now. Both prospects are terrifying, and she wants to be able to live with herself later on.

Maybe she can't solve it, but she can probably do something.

She tries to study for the next half hour and it's a complete failure, she can't stop thinking about how horrible she must have made him feel. She finds him in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes and when her heel clacks on the tile floor, he stiffens and turns around.

She shifts her weight, feeling awkward. “Hey.” She greets him.

“What is it?” He asks as if nothing has changed. He's cool as ever, it's really unnerving sometimes.

“I'm going to say something selfish. I don't want to lose you as a friend.”

“I can't make you a promise like that.” He says simply, averting his eyes from her. When he looks back she feels her heart stop a little at the pained expression on his face. “And I wouldn't want to distract you from your studies.”

He's bitter already. She nods and says okay, leaving him standing there alone.

It takes her a long time to fall asleep that night.

Before she's even completely ready for class the next morning Dustin is in her room, gently embracing her. “I just wanted to say good morning.” He says, not wanting to miss a single opportunity to be alone with her.

There's still so much left to say between them that they haven't had the time to say, but this is progress. The embrace was natural, easy, and something felt very right about it.

“Good morning,” She says quietly and feels her pulse quicken at the way his heart is in his eyes. It makes her a little bit breathless to be this close. She thought she knew everything about him but she wasn't expecting to feel so excited by something so small. She used to take being able to be so close to him for granted because he had always been there.

It's clear what he really wants to do and she leans in instinctively, inviting him. He slips a few fingertips under the collar of her shirt and trails them in circles on her skin, evoking a shiver while they kiss.

It's such a nice way to start the morning. She realizes that there's nothing she has to prove to Dustin, she doesn't have to pretend to be something she's not. The feeling of elation that surges in her chest makes her realize that all the craziness from the day before was going to be worth it.

There's plenty of busy work other than studying to do when you don't want to socialize with all of your housemates. Meghan hates cleaning, but she loves ruling any machine as an operational overlord. The laundry is one of the safest cleaning activities she can do, but she refuses to touch the bathrooms. Trips to the hospital are expensive!

Loki cleans everything Meghan won't. It's been an unspoken and long standing agreement. A perfect and clean environment is one of the few things that are able to lift his mood right now. He should be studying, but can't bring himself to focus as he normally would. He just rolls his sleeves back and works.

Dustin has been true to the word he gave himself, and is still cooking meals for the house. Something healthy like a salad is perfect for late night study sessions and requires no reheating later.

Also... is he holding the knife upside down...?

Not that everyone follows the meal plan. Meghan earned festival tickets for this shaved ice machine and had been lugging it around with every move since. Besides, if anyone's earned the right to eat only icees for dinner lately it's her.

The red one is somehow special, she tells Dustin it's an energy drink type of flavor, but that's not what her face says. That and she cryptically says it's not the kind of flavor she'd give to a kid. Like, ever. Adults only!

He hopes this is just brain freeze and not a seizure or something.

“You are okay right?” He asks when she looks like she can speak again.

“I think I should have a sister.” She replies, casual as ever.

He frowns and puts his fork down. “A ...sister?”

“Yeah, when my mom comes back I'm going to tell her. “Maybe with somebody else this time too. My dad's not my real dad, you know.”

No, I don't know. He thinks. You never tell me anything. Then again, this didn't sound like Meghan at all. “Andrea?” He guesses.

The little girl in Meghan's body nods curtly. She smiles a lot less than Meghan does, he realizes. What had induced the change though?

Time to play along. It's the only way to get any sort of clues as to what goes on in her head. “Why do you say you want a sister, Andrea? Aren't you a bit too old for something like that? You're in college right now aren't you?” Dustin asks her.

She shakes her head. “I'm not that old. And I'm never going to college. I'm too stupid.” There's no hint of tension when she says it, it's the same as anything else a child might repeat that they've overheard and don't yet understand. There must be a part of her that really believes it.

“You're smarter than I am.” He says truthfully. “I mean, I can work with my hands but I'm nothing like you are with computers and chemistry.”

“You mean like Meghan. She's the smart one. She is smarter than you. But it's okay because she likes you anyways.”

“Uhm, thanks. But about having a sister? Why do you want one of those?” He tries to ask again. This outburst had to come from somewhere, and it's rare for it to last for more than a few sentences, he doesn't want to waste the moment.

The little girl shrugs. “I'm lonely. It's lonely in here. It's too dark and the white lady never talks back. She's so pretty, but I don't think she can hear me.” The girls' voice, Andrea's voice, gets quieter for a moment. “If I had a sister, someone would answer me back. Nobody should grow up alone. Everyone should have a sister.”

“Why not a brother?”

Meghan places a finger up to her lips in thought. “May-be,” She declares finally, “But he'd have to like to play the same games and share things. Otherwise no way.” Her voice is firm now.

He nods amicably. “Got it. You want someone who will understand you the best.”

She nods, mimicking him.

“But Andrea, isn't Meghan your sister? In a way?”

And just like that, 'Andrea' falls silent again. Was the topic too complicated?

Dustin doesn't have a lot of time to process what the girl told him, because a second later her mouth is moving again.

“But that's weird too right?” This time Meghan is talking. Her voice has the usual inflection and pattern of familiarity as if she's comfortable talking to him. “Why would he be thinking about something so serious when we've only just started out together?” She demands.

“Indeed.” Dustin comments dryly, completely lost on the new topic.

“What do you mean 'indeed'? Are you trying to piss me off right now? Kids, Dustin, he wanted to have like, five or six of them. With me! Can you imagine, I should have known things would never work out right then. If he wants a bus full of kids shouldn't he go out and try to adopt or something? This isn't the dark ages. And he said it so casual, 'It all starts now',” She imitates Loki's deeper voice.

Dustin's mouth lifts into a small smile and he laughs softly. “Did he really say that?” They're free to talk about the third wheel as he still hadn't come home from class. It was likely he went to the library or the coffee shop to study on his own a bit, knowing him. Well, technically Dustin was the third wheel in house regarding Loki and 'Andrea's' relationship, but whatever.

“He did! Can you actually, seriously imagine me with children?” She says as if it's the most preposterous thing ever to be considered.

Dustin can't lie to her though, just because she wants him too. “I think I can, yeah.” He admits.

“Are you crazy?”

He grins widely, baiting her now. “Six is small time, why not twelve, or thirteen, just to prove it's not an unlucky number? You love overcoming the odds, don't you owe it to the world to be a world-class scientist who's still the perfect mother at home, a toddler on each leg while fresh home-made peach pie cools on the counter as you work in your perfectly manicured garden?”

She kicks hims for real under the table this time and it only deepens his smile, which is becoming more delightedly sarcastic with every minute. “Have them yourself!” She yells, trying not to find it funny. It was kind of freaking her out actually.

“Eww, no! Who said I had to be involved?!” He exclaims. “I just wanted to see you do it. What do you think I am some kind of sperm bank!?” He feigns horror and finally she snorts with laughter. She was not expecting him to say that. He continues, “You would just use me for my body and leave with all my children, and run off to start the Sparrow Circus or something. You might even try to steal my act!”

.

Meghan can't talk for a moment from silent laughter and it takes time to work her mouth out of it's quirky smile. “You're such a dumbass sometimes.” She complains when she can speak, feeling herself calm down. Of course he wouldn't react the same way Loki did, but this was getting stupid. After a few minutes of letting the good humor hang in the air she sobers a bit and asks him. “Do you really think I wouldn't be absolutely horrible at it?”

Dustin shrugs, good-natured mirth still shining in his gray eyes. “I think it depends. I like kids actually and I don't mind them, but everyone says when you have your own it's different, like you'd be anything for them and do whatever they need no matter what. I could see you being really devoted to your children, if you ever had any. Either that or experimenting on them, like a little army of tiny Frankensteins-”

“Okay stop that, I'm asking you seriously.”

“Well why do want my opinion? Are you asking because you really think you'd be a bad mother? You probably wouldn't, you work too hard at everything.” His voice is confident, it comforts her but it's a surprise. She kind of expected him to go along with her assessment and just agree. “If you did decide you wanted kids, how many would you want? Keep in mind, you brought up the topic.”

“Well I couldn't have just one. She'd be too lonely.” She says certainly.

He stops and watches her. “It would have to be a girl then?”

“Maybe. I mean, in my mind the first one would be a girl but after that I don't know. Nobody should grow up alone.”

He nods, silently wondering if she's knows they'd just had the same conversation in two different ways.

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So I wanted to touch  on the Meghan/Andrea thing a little bit, but I'm not sure how often it'll come in in the actual story as I'd like the gameplay to direct it more than a story idea directing the gameplay. Meghan has at least one split personality, and in that regard has an actual 'disease'. 

 As for Meghan's past I'll get into it if the story allows later, but these posts are long enough and I don't want the story to go backwards or get too complicated (as could easily happen).

I give mad props to Dustin for going along with Meghan whenever soemthing crazy comes out of ehr mouth.

Please pardon the pace, I'll get them out of uni soon. :3