Muriel eyed her curiously. "Why don't you want to sleep?"
"V-vulnerable."
Muriel shook her head in disbelief. This poor kid...did she assess everything from this kind of perspective? On the surface, it seemed like kind of a natural assumption for a born assassin...but when she thought about it, that didn't really make sense. Half of coping in a potentially dangerous environment was knowing not to freak out over every little thing, and save the adrenaline rush for actual threats. Maybe it was just that the whole environment must be unfamiliar to her? Or maybe it was just that, after being betrayed by what, as far as Muriel had gathered, was in some way another part of her, she didn't know what to trust in.
"You'll be all right," she said. "There's nothing hostile in this area, and I'll be in the house. Besides, your brain can wake you up if it detects an emergency."
Melanie eyed her warily. Was she...trying to trick her? Trying to talk her into lowering her guard? "Hostile?" she asked, staring pointedly at the woman.
Muriel shook her head. "No. You spared Jenny's life and gave up your own home and almost your whole existence for it. Doesn't seem like a good reason for me to be hostile towards you."
Melanie lowered her eyes, staring moodily at the floor. "Didn't want to d-die..." It wasn't that she felt any attachment to Four, it was just...she couldn't face that. She had found herself incapable of letting go of this existence just at the moment when its cessation was at hand...she couldn't help but hesitate, but that very hesitation had sealed her fate.
Muriel nodded. "I understand. But you did spare her. Besides, the fact that you value your own life means that I can trust you to act in your own best interest, and not...theirs."
The insect-girl frowned. "Don't understand...?"
Muriel hunched down, putting herself on eye level with the girl. Melanie leaned back a bit, but the woman made no further move toward her; perhaps this was not an act of aggression?
"What I mean," she said, "is this. If you value this life, then you're going to have to learn to exist within the society of this world - and it's not something that you can simply work out over time, at least not very well. It takes us years to really get the hang of it. And while you're learning all that, you're going to need food and shelter and assistance; and you're going to need it from people who understand, on some level, what you're dealing with...why you act the way you do. You need us, Melanie." And, she added to herself, I think, deep down, you want to be here. She wasn't sure if that would seem like pressing the point too hard...but she had noticed the way Melanie snuggled up against her before falling asleep.
Melanie considered that. Really, she hadn't even given any thought to the future...she had only just begun to understand the idea of having her own separate present, her own thread of time separate from anybody or anything else. However, the larger creature's argument seemed sound, assuming all the premises were valid; she did know that it was beyond her immediate means to provide for this body's physical needs. She supposed it would be possible, if Muriel was a captor and not a host, that she would mislead her about the complexity of human society, but that would be something independently verifiable by observation, and she could reassess then...she nodded slowly.
Muriel smiled. "And I'm glad to have you," she said. It was kind of odd, considering that this was the creature that had this very morning nearly killed her daughter and potentially obliterated God-knows-how-much of the country, but...she was. Maybe it had something to do with the little aspects of herself she saw in Melanie's altered face, or maybe it was just that she felt sorry for the child, but...yeah. "Now," she said, "you should probably sleep again, for a little bit."
Melanie siezed up again, shaking her head. Muriel sighed. "It's a safe environment, I promise."
"D-don't w-want to..." Something about her voice...it wasn't over-caution. Muriel frowned. "Why don't you want to? Really, I mean."
"F-feels like...dying..." Melanie felt embarassed that this emotional reaction escaped from inside her and let anyone else know...but...it was true. Emotions were so irrational...why did she even have to deal with them!?
"No, it doesn't," Muriel said firmly. "It's nothing at all like dying. Your brain doesn't even shut down, it keeps going all the way through. It's an important part of taking care of your body, Melanie; it'd be dangerous for you not to sleep."
Melanie stared at her. "R-really?"
"Really."
Melanie didn't know what to think...the very process of sleep rendered her helpless, but it was necessary!? How was she supposed to protect herself? How had these creatures survived as long as they had? Did they have to rely on others of their kind, in some kind of mutual-dependence arrangement?
Muriel frowned. This...this was going to be a challenge. And she still hadn't figured out what to do about the question of taking custody. It made perfect sense, and she was willing to accept support for a second child, she supposed, but it was clear that Melanie wasn't someone she could just send off to school...if she was this...well, paranoid, at home, how would she react in a crowded environment? And what would happen if some bully started picking on her? Would she jump straight to retribution?
No, that wouldn't work, not yet. But she didn't want to simply give up on her day job...she'd go stir-crazy! But she couldn't leave Melanie alone, or at a daycare facility, or hire a sitter. Although...no, that was crazy. Wasn't it? She could ask her parents, but then she'd have to let her parents in on this whole business. To have to tell them not only that her new daughter was an ex-living weapon with no idea of how to act in normal society, but that Jenny herself was a child warrior...how on earth would they react to that?
She sighed. She didn't know what to do.
Mr. Gordon stepped back out into the hall to find his wife there. She motioned him over into their room and shut the door.
"Honey," she said, "I know you can't go agreeing with Lilly that she could go to the moon...but I'm not sure you had to tell her flat-out that the whole story was false."
He frowned. "Well...strictly speaking, no, but...it's true. I'm sure Artemis tells a good story, but when Lilly starts confusing it for fact..."
"But they're children, Les. They do this kind of thing all the time. If Lilly starts to count on it like she was with the idea that they could change her back, that'd be one thing, but..."
He sighed. "They are. That's...that's what's so hard about it..."
Abigail smiled sadly at him. "It is, isn't it? But honey, it's just something we're going to have to accept, for now. Lilly's a little girl, not a teenage boy - but that's not the end of the world, is it? Even if there isn't a way to change her back, she'll grow back up eventually. She's not stupid, she's just been set back a bit. And if there is a way, then maybe we should just let her be a child in the meantime."
Steven fidgeted a bit as she felt her skirt brush against her pants. That was so weird...most of the area of the petals didn't seem to have nerve endings (hence why she'd been able to partially cut one,) but the "core" that did ran down the middle almost to the tip, and the whole thing was kind of like hair - strictly speaking, it didn't carry any sensation, but it transferred the force of contact so that the nerves at the base could pick it up...
Speaking of hair...she idly brought a lock around in front of her face. This...this warm pink...gah. It was the other part of her, aside from her legs, that looked particularily girly. That kind of bothered her...not as much as the overall situation did, but still. But what could she do about it? She could dye it, but then she'd have to keep doing that all the time...she just...she just felt like...
Stress. Yeah, that was it. Just like the chili plants, she'd gotten so worked up over this that her body had reacted to it. Thankfully, not by producing large amounts of capsaicin (how would that feel? She was glad she wasn't going to find out,) but still. This was an important signal to her...but what was she supposed to do about it? She couldn't alleviate stress by changing her situation, and it wasn't like she could just...decide to be okay with it...could she?
She was distracted from her studies by the sound of someone talking in a hush. It was...huh. It sounded like a conversation, in inflection and timing, but she couldn't hear another participant...not even a muffled voice-over-the-phone noise. She looked over to see...oh, it was that cyborg guy...Hiro, yeah. Hiro was over in the far corner of the library, talking to...what was he talking to? Nothing that she could see...
