melodymania | Max Davis Voicemail

Thanks for calling. If you're reaching out to sell your soul, I'll already know and I'll be there soon. If you're calling to just talk, leave a message and I'll call you back when I can. Which will probably be soon. Talk to you then~

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["The chrysalis"... again, she pauses. He can't create life, she reminds herself. Whatever will come out of her blood mixing with the Contagion, it will just be a facsimile.]

Let's, ah... let's see how I feel about it, if that's alright.

[Despite the dreadful sense that she's making the wrong decision - just like when she confidently promised her father that she wouldn't give in to their ancestors' ghosts like her uncle and grandfather -, she pricks her finger.]

[A sharp prick of pain is felt as the needle draws Freida's blood up the long sharp implement. It curls around taking what it needs before it raises up and away from her. The wound closes as it does, as if it never happened. Then the note morphs into a small bowl holding said blood. It floats over to Max who takes it into the palm of his hand.

Next he brings it close and opens his mouth. It opens far wider than it should as that gooey white Contagion pours out of his mouth like cold syrup from a bottle. It slowly drops down until it makes contact with the blood and floating bowl. Slowly the ooze fills the bowl, mixing into a white and red marbled concoction before spilling over the bowl. It runs down the sides until finally Max's mouth snaps shut, sharp teeth cutting the string of Contagion still hanging from his mouth. He swallows loudly as the white Contagion forms a sphere of red and white with black at the very bottom.

It doesn't quite solidify but the top most layer seems to become waxy and lacey as if the top most layer is drying out to harden just enough to keep the sphere shape.]

And done. [He says with a smile. The little sphere seems to almost pulse every now and then.]

Here it is. Not sure how long it will take. Could be a few weeks, maybe a month. Then we'll see what we get out of it when it's finished. So. You wanna keep a hold of it? A slight warning, it might whisper or play a small tune as this process continues. Had that happen the last time I did something like this.

[The pricking, the bloodletting, and even the note's transformation into a bowl are strange enough to experience, but Frieda only gets really unsettled when Max starts spouting Contagion like a fountain statue. It's the distortion of his features, along with the sheer amount of white ooze, that semi-activates her flight impulse (which she, of course, suppresses).

At his eventual question, she considers both options. Luckily, the sphere doesn't give her any particular feelings, good or bad, beyond that overarching apprehension she feels... but now, reflecting on how Jade, who warned her about the fae much like her fellow Eldians, would inevitably find and inspect it even if she tried to hide it, the decision seems clear.]

If you could keep it with you, I'd appreciate it.

...

All that Contagion... did it comes from your stomach?

[Isn't that bad for him? Or does he have a pocket dimension inside of him, and that's where he called it from?]

[Max nods and tosses the little thing up. It sticks on the ceiling and just stays there. On the ceiling. Must be sticky.]

Can do. And not so much my stomach but more between the layers. I could show you but I will warn you, it gets pretty body horror-y. I think that's a word.

[She quickly shakes her head in decline of the offer. She wouldn't put it past him to turn himself inside out!]

Thanks you, that's alright!

[Her eyes are stuck on the sticky cocoon that keeps faintly pulsing ever so often. Is this really OK..? But what's done is done, and she can only hope that she won't regret it. In the best case, Max' research may just provide her with a backup solution in case the curse-breaking timeline back home gets averted by key players never returning.]

...

Will it keep looking like this?

[She can't help but expect some kind of metamorphosis.]

[Max looks up at the chrysalis for a moment. Then he shrugs.]

Last time I did this it grew than shrank. So this one might do the same. I doubt it would grow a whole Titan. ...I hope not anyway.

[On the one hand, it's reassuring that this isn't the first time he runs this experiment. On the other hand...]

What kind of specimen did you create the last time?

I assimilated a creature called a Bane. A spirit of corruption. Made it my own spirit of Contagion instead.

This is more mapping than assimilation so it shouldn't change size.

[Once more, she can only marvel at how casually he shares incredible stories like this with her.]

Is it now your familiar, so to speak?

[She wonders where it came from - from Max' dimension or elsewhere -, but she doesn't want to keep Esme waiting any longer, so with one last glance at the cocoon on the ceiling, she turns away from it, ready to follow Max' lead.]

[Speaking of Esme, he's been very politely not listening in on their business even though it's apparently not a big deal and focusing on the tea. Black teas are pretty universal he's found, so he did that. A little cream and sugar for Max, cream for himself...and a small bowl of each for Freida because he doesn't want to assume too much or little.

It was impossible to miss the quiet splat of something hitting a surface though and he can't help glancing around the room as he reenters with a tray. Seeing the cocoon on the ceiling, being very obviously Contagion-based, he pauses mid-step with his brows drawn in concern. Then he decisively walks around the space beneath it and sets the tray on the coffee table with the plain tea and bowls closest to Frieda. He hands Max his, takes the other and tucks himself against his partner's side and looks at her again.]

I...wasn't sure how much you did or didn't want for your tea. I hope you don't mind.

[Before Max can answer, Esme returns. He sees the look on his face and takes his tea. Then he wraps his arm around Esme and gently pets his hair to help soothe him.]

It is kind of my familiar in the world where I made it, yes.

[There is more to it but he can explain that another time. He doesn't want to scare Esme or make him worry anymore needlessly than he already is.]

Thank you, love. You made it just the way I like it.

[Noting Esme's apparent discomfort with the Contagion cocoon (and who could blame him, really - Max could stand to run such experiments in a designated space, but it seems like such a thought hasn't occurred to him!), Frieda smiles at him as she adds both milk and sugar to her tea.]

Thank you! We were just done - you'll have Max to yourself again shorty.

[She says it jokingly, but seeing how she did come by without warning to Esme and intruded on their domesticity, it does seem appropriate. Even so, she can't help her curisosity...]

I have to assume that you two first met here in Ellipsa?

[Esme certainly seems as unused to Max' abilities as she is!]

[The petting and the compliment help soothe Esme and he smiles a little.]

It's fine. You're welcome to stay or visit whenever. The company is welcome.

[He doesn't want her to feel like her presence isn't welcome, even if he wasn't expecting her. Having a guest is really nice.

At the question, he shakes his head.]

No. Max was the very first person I met back home when I, um... [He hesitates, debating for a moment of how open to be. But if she's a friend...which he's assuming she is if Max is willing to help her with his Contagion AND here at home...then he can be honest. It can't hurt, right?]

Back when I first escaped. I walked in to his job in a shop.

[Max sighs with a face of relaxes nostalgia as Esme tells the story of their meeting. He nods along with Esme.]

It's true. Esme came running into the store I worked at and it was the best thing that ever happened in my life. Even with the child vampire coming in later and the attempted kidnapping of said child vampire.

[Immediately, she's intrigued. For most people, that kind of first meeting would already be adventurous enough, but of course, Max immediately supplements the next chain of unlikely events! One thing, however, surprises her above all others:]

Max worked at a shop?

[What kind of shop would employ a fae god - or, rather, why would a fae god be so mundanely employed? But then, who knows what kind of shop it was... and it may have been before his ascension to power besides.

Of course, she wonder what circumstances Esme escaped and what the entire story with the vampire child was, but one thing after the other!]

Right, Leopold. That was a lot.

[Esme blushes to his ears when Max says that it was the best thing that ever happened to to him]

Until a only a few days after we met, he did. It was a small store with a surprising amount of food and drink. I was only there for something to wear, which I found.

[Max can explain the store better than he can, so he trails of there. There's plenty of time to tell her whatever she gets curious.]

Oh yeah. It was a convenience store called Seven Eleven. Small little place. Had all sorts of stuff that was over priced. Esme got a hoodie because he was wearing super old clothes. He really needed something new.

It feels like forever ago now. Leopold and Dr. Dou and Eliza. When things were so much simpler really. Well, as simple as things could get in our complicated ass world.

You worked at the Seven-Eleven?!

[Those are all over Sunwaning and truly mundande (if terrifically handy) little convenience stores! It must have been a far simpler time indeed. (Little does she know that just over a month from now, she'll get to "meet" Dr. Dou in less-than-simple circumstances.)]

I didn't know they sold clothing too, but I'm glad they did when you needed it.

[Which begs the question (addressed at Esme):]

What kind of situation were you escaping from that you had no proper clothing?

That? Well...

[Max has told him some people don't really understand fae stuff when it comes to their world, so what would be the best way to make it simple...and not entirely ruin the mood...]

I was a prisoner in a different realm, but by the time I escaped so many years had passed that I wouldn't fit in wearing my clothes. And most of the world doesn't know magic, so it was important I wasn't too noticeable.

It was very fortunate that there was a hoodie I could have. And that Max let me pay, despite having the wrong money. And that our friends were also there.

[Max smiles and nods to the question. That he did.]

I was just a dhampire back then. [He lays out that last little bit of info and turns his head to kiss Esme's temple.]

[Coincidentally, Frieda understands what it's like to experience strange time shifts (because Esme looks far too young to have been out of the picture for enough "regular" time to stand out egregiously upon his return), though in her case it's less of a literal difference in the passage of months and years, but rather a mental distortion caused by her millennia of inherited memories.

About to express her condolences for Esme's ordeal, she feels heartened by his mention of his and Max' friends (old or new ones, she wonders) and smiles - however, at Max' addition, her eyes wander to him, once again filled with puzzlement.]

A dhampire? Is that something like a vampire?

[Is that how he started out in life, then..? Can anyone in his world just attain godhood if they're smart and ruthless enough? (Before long, she'll speak with Mike for the first time, and he'll shed some more light on the matter, but right now, she feels as overwhelmed as ever.)]

[It's the strangest thing to think only a few years have passed only to find out it's been centuries. Probably not as weird as it involving memories you're not even around for.

Blushing a little at the show of deep affection, he nods. Freida can't see it, but under his human disguise his tail curls around Max.]

They're related. Max's mother is a vampire, but his father is a mage.

[He tilts his head back and looks up at him as he continues.]

But he wasn't Just a dhampire. We wouldn't be where we are without him being willing to act.

[Max nods as Esme explains it very well. He blushes and makes the cutest smile as Esme puts him in his place in the best way.]

Awwww. Thank you, love. I mean, you know I'd do anything for you. And our friends. Mostly you. I'm biased as all hell.

[Esme's tail may be out of her sight, but even so, she clearly sees a lovey-dovey couple in front of her, and in a way, it puts her further at ease. Seeing how she constantly has to internally reassert her trust in Max whenever he tells her some horrendous story from home, especially ones of him transmongrifying his enemies, it's heartening to see him as happily in love as anyone else, and his statement makes her laugh as she sips her tea.]

We all have our biases!

[She may not be able to act on hers, obligated to act in the spirit of utilitarianism, but here in Ellipsa, even she has been able to carve out some personal happiness.]

Your world seems really dangerous, so I'm glad that you were able to build yourselves a good life.

[Seeing how Esme was imprisoned and Max experienced things like losing a piece of his soul, it seems like a wonder that they came out on top, and she can only assume that being in Ellipsa is a welcome breather for them, too.]

It is. But there have also been many kind people to help us along the way. And I'm grateful that Max always comes back.

[If Esme knew half of what she does, he wouldn't blame her for any unease she feels. They aren't from the same point though and Max hasn't told him much of their future...partly because he hasn't asked.

But knowing that your partner just one of the shadiest people you know...he's just happy that she's here, willing to trust Max.]

I'm also biased. We aren't from the same time, but I'm not sure where I'd be if Max hadn't arrived with me.