In the dark of the night. (Melanie)

"Then it's settled. Whenever Lilith gets back, we'll have it done." Melanie smiled as she washed her hands and then walked over to her phone. Punching in a few numbers and commands, she quickly found the information she had been looking for. " then again, it may be a better idea to leave Lilith out of it for a while. She's on one of her self assigned missions again and I doubt she'll be back for a while yet." She couldn't hide the disapproval in her voice, especially whenit came to things like this. The girl couldn't be controlled, by her sister or her boss, which were unfortunately the same person..


"You should be thrilled though. One more time and the commander is probably going to force her out of the Garrison. Then again, one more of these missions and I may have to retire myself due to the Avalanche of paperwork associated with trying to keep her out of trouble." It would make him happy though and Melanie knew it. She would either go to work with him or start her own business. She was more than capable of being a merchant and she knew it, but it just wasn't in her heart anymore.

"Enough about Lilith though. Catch me up to speed. What have I missed?" She asked, trying to prompt her closed off brother to divulge anything on his own accord. Sure, she could figure it out if she wanted to, but she preferred to hear things from Aimery himself.

Aimery snorted.  "Self-assigned missions," he repeated with disdain.  "More like tomfoolery."  He didn't like that Mel worked in the Garrison, but he could understand what she did.  He barely understood what Lilith did, at all, nor could he ever fathom why she did it in the first place.

He smirked.  "Perhaps she's done you a service, then," he jested, but then quickly shook his head.  "No, Mel, I wouldn't want that to happen.  If you ever resign or drop out of your job, then I want it to be fully of your own accord.  I would hate to think that you would be punished for our little sister's idiocy."  That would be totally unfair to Mel, and he reckoned that he would use his invisibility and other powers to seek revenge upon the Commander in that case.  Although, Craddock did strike him as a rational person.

And now she was asking after him.  Aimery simply shrugged.  "No, nothing much.  Business is going good, as usual."  He paused for a moment.  Speaking about businesses... "I heard that the new nightclub is almost open for business.  Do you plan on attending the grand opening?" He by all means was NOT going to attend, because partying was anything but his thing.  Knowing how Mel used to be in the past, though, he wondered if she would consider it.  She may be less frivolous, but she was still more social than he was, social enough for parties he supposed. 

"I doubt it. That's tomorrow and I think that I'm busy. Paperwork and meetings, things like that. Besides, why would I go to something like that alone?" A timer behind her went off, letting her know that dinner was almost done. She just needed to put it together. It smelled great, reminding her of why she was so hungry to begin with. "Alright, enough about Lilith and parties we both know that I'm not going to. Let's finish dinner." She said with a smile, motioning for Aimery to join her on her side of the counter.

Aimery approved of his sister's choice not to attend the nightclub party (or so he thought).  He thought it sounded rather gross and disgusting for obvious reasons. But part of him realized just how lacking in entertainment and fun his sister's life was.  Granted, he lead a boring life himself, but he seemed to get the feeling that he was an exception that and that other people were mainstream and regular, his sister included.

But that being said, he obeyed her and joined her at her side of the counter.  He inhaled the smell of the food that was almost done, and he would be lying if he said he wasn't craving it.  "Smells good, Mel," he commented.

Melanie laughed at Aimery's comment. Maybe it wasn't as loud or as joyous as it should have been, but if anyone was going to make her laugh, it would be her little brother. "Well thank you Aim, I do try." She teased, finishing up her part and wiping her hands on a cloth hanging off of the counter.

Aimery caught that amusement in her.  It was a bit subtle and not very expressed--just a simple laugh, but he knew that he had humored her.  It was a progress from how lifeless she had been ever since that attack.  While Aimery knew that he was dull, he somehow thought that it was just him who needed to be that way.  His sister deserved to be happy again.

He felt a bit bad for being so snarky and impassive when it came to her job, which she centered a lot of her attention on.  He was selfish, he knew that.  But he could break that habit, just a bit, for Mel.  Therefore, he asked her, "So, how was your day, Mel? Anything important at work? I...actually am quite curious."  

((Peacefully end thread I guess!))

"Well, if your asking..." Melanie started, telling him everything that had happened during the long time that she had been gone. Well, as much as she could. Maybe he couldn't know about every detail of the quest or who she had been with, but she could spend the rest of their time cooking and well into the meal itself telling her brother about Chimera's and spooky abandoned houses before reaching into her pocket to grab an almost forgotten item.

"This was...found...during this last quest. I thought you would want it back." A familiar black and purple bracelet fell out of her hands and into Aimery's, a gift from Aimery to their little brother. While she had purposefully left it there before, hanging from his wrist on the steps of their former home, Melanie was glad that Captain Jacoby had thought to bring it back with them. Maybe remembering was a good thing sometimes.

Aimery let a slight gasp escape from his lips when Melanie produced the bracelet which he had given Damien five years ago, and a look of pain flashed in his eyes.  "Oh..." he said, taking it the bracelet into his hands, staring at it with both remembrance and sadness.  "This is...this is the bracelet I gave to Damien.  He wore it all of the time."  He closed his eyes for a moment.  He tried to convince himself that nothing was more important than moving on, but it still hurt.  Aimery took a deep breath before opening his eyes.  He looked at Melanie and smiling ruefully.  "Thank you, Mel.  It means a lot to me."  He reached out and took his sister's hand in his, squeezing it tightly.  "I'm sorry, Mel, so sorry for always having doubts about your profession.  I still think you ought to take better care of yourself, but...well, you've opened my eyes somewhat to what good can come out of it."

"Don't mention it." Melanie said with a sad smile, squeezing Aimery's hand for a moment while looking at the trinket in his hand. "He would've wanted you to have it back." Five years later and she could still see the look on her brother's face when Aimery had given him the bracelet. He was so excited to have a big brother, even if he wasn't that much older. They deserved more time together than they had received.

Shaking her head, Melanie walked back over to the kitchen counter to finish up what they had started. "So anyways, before that...there was this Chimera." A dinner at home with her little brother was just what the doctor ordered. They would never have Damien back, but they did have each other. They had Zane and Ethan, and Lilith when she was home. For them, the little family they had left would have to be close enough.