Someone To Talk To

Participants:

melissa_icon.gif ling_icon.gif

Scene Title Someone To Talk To
Synopsis Melissa has been looking for just that, and manages to find it in Ling Chao
Date July 28, 2010

Little Green House


Evening. Twenty-four hours since the incident in the abandoned shop. And a lot has happened since then. Melissa came home late last night. Very late. And today? Today has been spent getting drunk. Very drunk. And eating pizza with Daphne. Who also got drunk. But something like that has to have a cost, and the cost today was passing out for a few hours and waking with one hell of a hangover. Silly Melissa, adding more pain to that which she already had.

She's only been awake a few minutes ago, and has just gotten to her feet, stumbling towards the kitchen, and the pills that she knows are waiting in one of those cabinets. Sweet, sweet pain killers, oh how she loves thee.

Ling was propped up in the living room, as she had been several times since her leg had been broken. She had missed the earlier drunken escapade, resting her leg after the previous evening’s straing. But now she was downstairs to see the after-effects. With anyone else, she’d likely be amused, but as Melissa shambles into the room, Ling’s newspaper lowers, a curious eye cast on Melissa.

A quiet chuckles escapes the Chinese woman when she realises where Melissa is going, and likely what for. “I have your aspirin over here, I’m afraid,” she says from the couch, reaching over to the small container, shaking it. “My leg was bothering me earlier.”

"Screw the aspirin. I want the prescription shit," Melissa grumbles, digging through the bottles until she finds the right one, and makes a sound of happiness, one that has her wincing. "One good thing about being hurt so often…I have the meds for when I do, and they are wonderful. Wonderful," she murmurs, grabbing a bottle of water and heading back into the living room, settling down carefully.

"Normally I'd offer to help you out, but my head is pounding and I'm kinda afraid to try using my ability," she says apologetically. "But I'll share my drugs with you," she offers, tapping a few pills into her hand, then offering the bottle to Ling.

“I am fine, thank you,” Ling said, folding up her paper and offering it over to Melissa – it’s the business section, but she certainly has the rest of it if desired. “I try to avoid any strong painkillers. Anything that makes me… loopy, I believe is the word, makes my ability harder to control. And right now, the last thing I want to do is slide right out of my cast.” An eye is cast back down to her cast, Ling grimacing.

A glance is given to the cast, then Melissa nods. "Yeah, I can get that. Me? I just want the pain to stop for a while. I'd love to have my ability work on myself. Oh well." Mel's head is tilted back to rest against the back of the couch. "So how you feeling today anyway?"

“It doesn’t?” Ling inquires curiously, eyes lingering on Melissa for a moment, before her paper is unfolded once more. “I find that rather odd, myself.” Straightening the paper in front of her, she offers no initial response to Melissa, only stoic silence. When she does finally speak, it’s very flatly. “I feel I should be asking you the same, if you have such a desperate need for the stronger medication. I am as fine as I can be.”

Melissa shakes her head. "Nope. I've tried, believe me. And I've had plenty of opportunities to test it," she says with a faint, wry smile. Then she glances over to Ling, frowning. "I don't think I'll call it a desperate need. But right now I am pretty well fucked up. Think I had a bit too much of that sweet tea vodka earlier."

That brings Ling attention back over to Melissa, an eyebrow crocked at the other woman. “Sweet tea vodka? I wasn’t aware they made such a thing.” A page of the paper is flipped, Ling’s attention turned back to it. “I take it thinks did not go so well after I left last night? I can’t imagine any other reason for you to be drinking so much.” She decides, somewhat humanely, that it’s probably not best to mention that she hasn’t laid eyes on Kendall since he walked out the door last night.

"Neither did I. Daphne got it and blueberry vodka. We got smashed," Melissa answers with a small shrug. She glances at Ling, then shakes her head. "I had to kill him. No other choice. Called Peter to help move the body. He's told me to take a few days off, to recover and to heal." Yet isn't healing recovering?

Ling scoffs, shaking her head. “After the weekend, I imagine it couldn’t hurt either of us to take some time off.” Another page is turned in the paper. “I am sorry about Kendall,” she admits after a few moments, her voice low. “I tried to find him after he left, but my leg kept me from doing much. As soon as it’s healed, I’m sure I can look for him again.” Ling is offering to help. That’s big.

Melissa smiles faintly. "Thanks. I'm hoping he'll come back in a day or two, once he gets over the shock. I mean, I'm essentially his adopted mom and he just saw me…" She trails off, unable to give voice to what she did. "But yeah, time off. Only thing is, I have to be in on the rescue mission for Teo. I owe Francois that. But maybe if I just stay around here and…veg…"

Ling wrinkles her nose. These are names she’s unfamiliar with, and thus is not entirely worried about. Another page turn, and she shakes her head. “You are better informed as to what’s planned then I am. But for now, I am constrained to letting this run its course.” She makes a motion down to her leg, disdain in her voice. “Peter said he couldn’t do anything about it until his issues with Humanis First are done, and I have little desire for another black handprint on myself.”

"Francois is a good friend. A doctor who's patched me up a couple of times. The least I can do is help him get his boyfriend back," Melissa says with a shrug. Her hand lifts, fingers sliding into her hair, over the handprint there. "Yeah…I refused healing myself last night," she murmurs, sounding sad.

"Francois is a good friend. A doctor who's patched me up a couple of times. The least I can do is help him get his boyfriend back," Melissa says with a shrug. Her hand lifts, fingers sliding into her hair, over the handprint there. "Yeah…I refused healing myself last night," she murmurs, sounding sad.

“I see,” Ling says with a look of amusement on her face. “A good doctor, then? Perhaps I shall see him about my leg before too long.” Eyes glance down to the cast again. “You did? I am surprised by that,” the Asian woman remarks, folding up her paper once more, setting the business section aside. “Quite amusingly, you never struck me as the pain tolerant type.” Another one of those poor Ling jokes.

"I can give him a call if you want," Melissa offers. Then she gives a faint smile. "Yeah, I did. The pain isn't pleasant, but I didn't want another handprint on me unless I was going to get to keep him. And he won't let me. So…no healing."

Ling eyes shift over to Melissa for a long moment, before she laughs. “I see. Then perhaps rest is best, yes.” Hands fall down to her sides, looking back ahead at the TV across the room. “I’m afraid that is a matter I am incapable of giving any advice on.”

Melissa laughs softly and shakes her head. "I gave him something to think about and told him goodbye. I'm still Messiah, but…I intend to start dating again. Once I find someone to date and figure out how."

Ling scoffs again, shaking her head. “I would hope dating wouldn’t interfere with ‘work’,” she responds with an only half serious tone. Another part of the paper is retrieved and unfolded. “At least I am not the only one who would need to figure it out, if I were inclined.”

Melissa shakes her head. "It won't. If anything, it'll help." Her voice lowers to a soft murmur, "It'll keep me from becoming a monster. I hope." She sighs and shrugs, taking a drink of water. "We'll see. Gonna just take things one day at a time."

Ling wrinkles her nose. “Another thing we have in common I wish we didn’t. It’s hard to plan what one wants to do when stuck waddling around in a cast.” Ling leans back, a quiet grumble to herself. “Do what you must to keep focused and keep on what you want,” she says over to Melissa. “Don’t let something distract you.”

"Too late," Melissa whispers with a wry smile. "Don't worry though. I'm sticking with Messiah, and I'll do the job, even if I'm taking this round off. Too many people depend on me, though not necessarily in Messiah. Most of them don't know me well enough to depend on me."

“I had no doubt on that matter,” Ling replies with a grin on her face, her tone sounding somewhat amused. “I am fairly certain if such a thing was the case, I would have known full well about it last night. “

"Wait, what? If what were the case?" Melissa asks, suddenly confused. "The Messiah thing, you mean? Staying with 'em?" She shrugs. "I…was sorta debating leaving after you left the shop."

“If you were leaving,yes,” Ling clarifies, looking over at Melissa. She grows silent for a moment, and then her eyes grow half lidded. “I take it you are not used to having to do such things.” Her eyes look back towards the black TV screen. “Despite what you may think, I have never done anything quite of that nature myself.”

"Hurting people is sort of my deal. I've been doing it for years. The plain hurting doesn't bother me so much anymore. Occasionally guilt will pop up, but for the most part, it's just part of who I am, and I've accepted that," Melissa begins, starting with the easy stuff first. "But until a few weeks ago, my first mission with Messiah, I'd never before killed anyone. I was sick afterwards. Literally. And that was self-defense. I didn't have to look into their faces, or talk to them.

Her voice lowers. "Last night I had to talk to Jacob. I knew his name. I looked into his eyes. I apologized as I pulled the trigger, but i still pulled the trigger."

Ling is quiet for several moments, before she sighs loudly. “As I told you, I killed a man for the first time just last year,” she begins, in an unusually quiet tone. “I have hurt many people over the years. Financially, emotionally… by pedalling drugs. But that was the first time I killed a man. For money and power, effectively, a man who was in charge of the largest Triad in New York and that I had worked for for several months.”

She closes her eyes slinking down in her seat. “I spent until February paranoid and locked up in rooms hoping to remain safe. So, I understand wanting to get out after such a thing.”

"I'm not even sure it's just that. I mean, don't get wrong. I hate that I've killed. I had to dye my hair just so I didn't see my face after that first death everytime I saw my hair dark," Melissa says, shaking her head. A pause, then she smiles. "Thanks for listening, Ling. I've been wanting someone I could talk to. But…I gotta go get a shower. I've been slacking at the Suresh Center for a while now."

Ling quirks an eyebrow. At first, all she does is pull up another section of the paper and unfold it, eyeing the local news carefully. It’s only when Melissa gets ready to leave that she speaks up again. “I don’t make habit it,” she remarks from behind the paper. “But it’s important that whatever passes for my co-workers be ready for what lies ahead, and focused to deal with it.” She folds down the paper so she can see Melissa, peering at her with a very unusual expression for her.

It’s almost a little sympathetic.

Almost.


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