"I Do... Forever" [open]

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro began to laugh at all of her questions, and he was going to answer every single one. Even the ones he heard from inside her head.

"I find myself envious of people who have a working family. A loving family. I am envious of the rich. That is what makes me envious.

Elspeth and I are not intimate. She is still a virgin in every way. I plan to leave her that way, until she wishes to be intimate.

I find that there is no such thing as normal. There is no normal. Since there is always difference. The media projects what is normal, so we all look the same.

They stopped loving me when I was born. When my eyes were different. From my very first breath I was a "demon" or a "witch"

I would have done it all again. The mysteries of life will always find you.

I can't accept it. When one door opens, many open. There are so many answers to one question.

Science is never a waste. As humans, we are always interested in something. There are many mysteries in life. Diseases to be cured, animals waiting to be discovered. Technology to explore. Ways to cure mental disorders. Ways to fix nature.

My eyes were born like thi.

I always hear peoples thoughts. Except when there is no one around me, in my sleep, and when artificial noise is going.

Um...no

This isn't my true hair color

She is somewhere in the mansion

Elspeth was born this way, do to a different strand of DNA inside of her.

I have found nothing on the mansion.

What do you mean "first base"

Emro smiled finishing the questions and paused, awaiting more.

Once no more questions bombarded him he turned to face the staircase, and began leading Haruka up the stairs.

"Elspeth's and my room isn't far from here. Do you have a room?

Elspeth remained quiet. She was still blushing from the intimate question. There were times when she had thoughts about Emro. He was so nice to her, but she was so young. Elspeth had learned to hide her thoughts from Emro. What if he found out about her secrets?

[Haruka Yasu]

"What about when people imagine pictures in their mind, do you see them, too?" asked Haruka, and then added to her previous question, "Alright then, not normal, but pleasing to people. If you had a choice between your studies, and your parents love, which would you choose?" she questioned, for that was what she really wanted to know. It seemed that he'd already chosen, but perhaps it had just been his eyes that caused their hatred; she didn't know. Vaguely she wondered if she was stepping over a line here.

She rolled her eyes for a moment at him, not rudely but not entirely jokingly at him. "You're so young, of course you wouldn't know." 1990---it sounds so little! Why, that was less then twenty years ago; she'd been here since the early 1800's, such a pitiful wasted time. "By first base I mean first base. In 1945 there was a film let out about two men fighting over who was on first base. The problem was, who is on first base---because Who is the man's name." She shook her head. "It was a joke," she stated dryly. {{yt link}}

"Yes, I have a room..." she said, but didn't really want to show them. It was a bit of a mess; she'd been upset during the two days and in the process had caused a bit of destruction in her quarters. Burning things, breaking glass, punching walls... and the sad part was that it didn't even help; the frustrating factor was that she just wouldn't die, despite all the worthless pain.

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro smiled and gave a nod to Haruka. "I do see the images in their mind. I would choose my parents love. I'd give up anything to feel that feeling. To feel what love feels like. The warm embrace of a hug. The taste of another's lips."

Elspeth looked over to Emro as he was talking. There seemed to be something on the young girl's mind, but she usually remained quite. Elspeth was never really a talker. Well. When there were other people around. She'd talk Emro's ear off. Plus, she was still a little afraid of Haruka, but if Emro thought she was fine. Then she's fine with her.

Emro gave a slight smirk to Haruka. She had fooled a mind reader "Well, I really only watch horror movies. And I do have a few movies from the 1940's and 1950's. That movie sounds rather interesting."

Emro stood outside his door looking at Haruka. "Well that's good. Because I was going to put and offer out there, if you didn't have one. But, you might wanna clean up your room from your mental breakdown."

Elspeth unlocked and opened the door. She scurried inside to get changed out of her wet clothes. The black dress she was wearing became a secondary skin and clung to her small form. Elspeth then quickly changed into her other gothic black dress.

Emro smiled at Haruka "After you"

[Haruka Yasu]

Haruka couldn't help but get mixed feelings when he mentioned love. The warm embrace of a hug. The taste of another's lips; was that all that love was to him? If he didn't remember; he had kissed her earlier---as an act of revenge, somewhat, but was still a kiss all the same. Kisses, hugs, warm feelings... lust; and there was only a one letter difference between 'lust' and 'lost. Kisses can be stolen easily... but the true feelings of love were hard to conquer. Did Emro not believe that? Maybe he was really was just Shermen... after all, he had just offered to let her share the room with them. What would happen then? She shivered again, and this time not from the cold wetness of her fragile body.

Her perspective twisted just a bit, and she let go of his hand and drifted a little further away. Tucking a strand of gray hair behind her ear, she ignored his smile and politeness and glanced around the room [[please describe]]. She was bit surprised when the angel just changed right there in front of them, and she respectfully averted her gaze, although she could not help but catch a glimpse, what with her right there and all. Elspeth was younger looking then Haruka had originally thought, making her feel just a little bit ashamed.

"Horror movies hold little interest for me," she stated in a soft toneless voice, "there are enough horrors in life." She stood with her back against the wall in the darkest shadows of the room she could find: in a corner where no one could sneak up on her. "Does getting rid of memories hurt? Have you done it before?" she asked for the sake of asking, not meeting his eyes.

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro stepped into the room and left the door open. The walls were painted tan and dark blue. The walls were rather bare, except for some nature paintings that came with the room. He hated bare walls. If he had all of his belongings, no one could tell the color of the paint.

There was a large bed in the center of the room. The sheets had a plain black color. Infront of the foot of the bed was a bookshelf that housed a TV/DVD player and the bookshelves were crammed full of DVDs.

Along side the wall was a desk with Emro's laptop sitting there. The laptop was locked, so no one could acess any of his files.

On the opposite side of the room that had the desk, was a dresser that Elspeth was standing infront of. The two of them shared a dresser since neither of them had a lot of clothing.

Elspeth looked from Haruka to Emro, shrugged, and crawled under the bed covers.

Emro sat down on the bed. "Sorry, I gave the wrong impression on what love is to me. I didn't want to sound sappy. So, let me finish. I wanna feel acceptance, I wanna feel that someone cares about my existance. I want to be able to share my...difference with someone. Someone who doesn't care I have two color eyes, someone who doesn't care I believe in aliens, ghosts, and monsters. Someone who doesn't care about my gifts. Lusting after another one's body, is at the bottom of my list of things. I'd rather die, not knowing lust, but have fallen in love. Than to have died lusting and not known love. " Emro lightly ran his hand against Elspeth's silky white hair.

Emro got up and walked over to the dresser and pulled out a plain black sweatshirt. He handed it to Haruka. "If you want pajama pants too, I can give you some. They may be a bit baggy on you."

He walked over to the dresser once again, and dug out a t-shirt and pajama pants. His eyes darted over to her's, and shrugged to himself, not carrying if she watched him undress. Emro casually carried on the conversation, as he proceeded to do so. "Horror movies I fine are quite interesting. How simple fiction causes people fear. How simple creations of the human mind, causes ones blood to run cold. Is it the simple thought of impending death frightful? I've always loved watching movies like those. They're great work of fiction, and fun to watch other's reactions. Fear is interesting.

Emro peeled off his wet jeans, and slid on the pajama pants. He continued to talk "No. It won't hurt. The only side affects are if it is a recent memory. Like if I took away the memory of this moment, you'd be slightly confused. But if it was a past memory, nothing would happen."

[Haruka Yasu]

Haruka was shocked that he would change in front of her! Have either of them no shame?! She didn't want to look completely away, though---least he do something untrustworthy---and so proceeded to stare at the carpet expressionlessly... except for the furious rose color that touched her cheeks. Bastard, she thought ruthlessly for not particular reason.

She clenched the black sweatshirt in her hands for a moment and looked around when he was finished changing, for a place to swap clothing without them looking. Upon finding none, she stubbornly threw the shirt aside and began grab a fistful after a fistful of shirt and hair, wringing out the water like a wet sponge and leaving on a puddle on the floor. She didn't care though; like hell she'd be naked within twenty yards of any live men.

"What about everything that I've done with those thoughts in mind? Surely you can't just take out one section of memory from someone, when all those rippling effects in the thoughts of someone had accrued anyway. That'd be like disposing of the dead body, but forgetting to clean up the blood; obviously there was either a ketchup fight or a murder that went down there," she stated in a bit of a sour and curt tone, still furiously wringing out her soaked shirt---she'd thrown his jacket he'd draped over her to the side too, a bit pissed at their cocky attire switches.

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro looked at the heap of wet clothing. What was he to do with them? He tried his best to wring them out in the carpet. Emro decided that he didn't really care and draped the wet clothing over a chair.

He still didn't make eye contact with her, stil unsure if she was done changing. Emro turned his gaze to out the window and watched the falling rain. Watching the rain was very calming for him. He saw the reflection of Elspeth sound asleep. It made him smile a bit.

Emro paused to gather his ever racing thoughts. He placed them together like a child's block building. "It would take me some time to completely eradicate every single memory that caused you to become a killer. I would first eliminate the memory of your incident with Mr Shermen, then your killing. It would be cutting out a section, but then I would rewire your memories so there would be some sort of filling.

Why are you so interested? Do you want it done?

Emro closed his eyes. "You can just drape your wet clothing on the chair next to me and I'll get you a towel if you need one"

[Haruka Yasu]

"I'm not sure yet," she admitted quietly, and then asked: "Could I get them back---the memories---if I wanted?" She questioned the morals of deleting memories in her head; wasn't it just like the book 1984, where they changed history just to make it look like they were right on every prediction? Then, what was the point of living, if what you had done in the past will eventually not exist? The present is just the past's future... and anyway, if she doesn't remember, it still happened. You can hide dead bodies all you want, but they are still dead all the same.

"I didn't change," she said sharply, "I don't need to." She slid her back down the wall and shrank onto the floor, deeper into the shadows where she hid the goosebumps that were plagued on her skin from coldness, trying not to shiver or make her teeth chatter. The dark circles under her eyes made her look even more pitiful; the two nights of no sleep hadn't exactly done her wonders. She was cold, tired, and---she realized as her stomach growled---hungry, too. "I'm fine," she restated stubbornly, more so to herself. She refused to admit her weaknesses, holding her arms close to herself and keeping her hard violet gaze on the ground.

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro answered her own question with his own "Can you bring back the dead?" He turned his head around, to see that she was still in her wet clothing. How...pitiful. Was it because he was still in the room? Was it because the door was open? No. Haruka was still wearing her mask. Her, tough act. Resisting help so that she could fool herself. Nobody could do anything in life on their own. You had to rely on someone. Haruka was just not used to that. Struggling alone in this dog eat dog world. Social Darwinism.

He walked softly over to her. She was sitting upagainst the wall, as if the shadows were supposed to blanket her from harm. Cold, tired, hungry. It brought him back to the first day he came to the mansion.

Emro smiled getting down on his knees. "You don't need to put your mask on anymore Haruka. You can admit your faulties. Relax, and enjoy life. No need to keep fighting."

He grabbed a blanket that was neatly folded on the foot of the bed. Smiling, he unfolded it, and draped it around her. "Want to go get some food? We can leave Elspeth here, she sleeps like a log, and I'll lock up the room"

[Haruka Yasu]

Haruka was silent at his question, still being unresponsive at that time, flinching and cringing away a bit when he came closer---it was only instinct to her. Every muscle tensed and every cell seemed to try to become alert. It was very hard, though, to concentrate what with all her needs. Her eyelids were so in need in sleep that she felt like she was walking in a dream.

Surprisingly, tears stung her eyes for a second---her jaw, however, was still clenched. He thought it was an act? He thought that beneath all this, there was a smiling, happy person? Haruka did not think so. She was sure, by now, that happiness was just an illusion, a weakness that could be crushed and leave one more broken then before.

And yet his words filled her with a strange warmth, as if some unconscious part of her disagreed. When the blanket was placed upon her, she didn't know what to say at first. She looked down and away, her chin nearly to one shoulder, hoping that the darkness would hide the tear that slipped down her cheek on the opposite side. The shadow of her bangs fell over her lilac eyes and she replied in a soft voice, hoping then that its shakiness would be unheard: "I'd like that."

She stood up gracefully but without spirit; wrapping the blanket around her like a cloak and holding it at her neck with one hand, while the other reached out sheepishly and lightly fitted itself into one of Emro's hands. She was still looking at her feet---cold and bare, pale and small---for she was feeling oddly ashamed of her manner, but was too stubborn (or maybe just unsure) to admit it.

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro felt her hand place into his. It was cold, like the rest of her body. He found it to be really odd, that he made such a connection with this girl. The way she shyly clutched his hand, it was as if he was her stability. A figure that said -everything will be ok-. Three days ago, she wanted to kill him, now, Haruka was now holding his hand and using him for support.

He watched as a tear was falling down her face. Emro reached his fingers out slowly to the tear, and wiped it away. His fingers then made their journey up to her bangs, and brushed the silky lilac hair out of her eyes. Emro's mismatched eyes stared into hers. He just smiled for a second.

"There is a smiling happy person inside of you. But she is all cadged up and bound by your wrath and hatred. But soon, she will be released. I can see the change in only three simple days. In three days, you went from stabbing me, to holding my hand. From denying my help, to accepting it."

Emro noted her lacking of eye contact. Was she embaressed by holding his hand? It made him smile and he began walking out the door. Being around Haruka was going to be very interesting, and worth while.

He had to admit that Haruka was very good company. The girl was so...interesting. Plus, he could hold an intelligent conversation with her.

Turning his head over to Elspeth, he noted that she would be fine with the door locked and closed. Emro walked barefoot out of the room with Haruka, and turned out the lights, closed the door and locked it. Smiling, he rubbed Haruka's hand with his thumb. "Lets get some food." And he started the walk down the carpeted hall.

[Haruka Yasu]

Haruka didn't know a lot of things right now---so many questions were piled up in her head---but there was one thing that she knew for sure at this moment:

Emro Deucalion was driving her insane.

Although, truthfully, she was kind of already insane, the ratio of insanity verses sanity in her brain seemed to widely conquering the stability even more so now. Even time he touched her, it was an electric shock wave was transmitted directly to her heart, thus causing it to pound. She was so petrified, her feet rooted to the ground, her mind screaming at her to run and don't ever look back, an even deeper part of her wishing it would never end. It was like three arguments yelling in her head. Run away---he'll hurt you, idiot! verses Don't run away---that's cowardly and weak, wuss! versus Don't run away---what's there to loose anymore? Which is why she didn't; simply because she was stubborn, and also because she had no where to run to.

But just because she wasn't running didn't mean that she wasn't scared out of her wits.

She'd turned into a statue when he'd wiped up her tear trail, her heart beating like a snare and her petal lips parted in shock. The finger seemed to leave a burning sensation where he touched, while the rest of her ran dead cold. And when he rubbed his thumb on her hand, the trembling wave that shot from the place of contact to every other part of her body was nearly visible. Her hair stood on its end and goose flesh covered all her skin, a small squeaking sound escaping her lungs. Her vision went out of focus for a second then back in focus again, and she was surprised that she hadn't faint.

Still, she refused to let go of his hand. She held it tighter, trying to stop herself from bolting down the hall like every cell her body was screaming her to do at that moment, wishing he'd just hold still and not move his hand so she could avoid some sort of reactive seizure. She breathed as quietly as she could through her mouth, for her heart acceleration also caused a bit of hyperventilation in her fragile lungs. Plus she was feeling dizzy, now, too. Damn thumb, she thought fleetingly.

"Tell me... about... your first days here in the mansion," she stuttered out quickly, her face entirely visibly red; hoping to distract him from making any comments on the particular way she had reacted just now, for she was still feeling quite strange. Emro and Elspeth were so open about all their comments and actions that she was sure that he thought she was being melodramatic. She just couldn't help herself though; she was being stupid it enough hold hands with the worst fear of her life---without having thoughts of betraying them! This was completely preposterous and idiotic to her. She had no safe net beneath her, her knife was gone and she was too close to fight properly, how could she possibly feel at ease, when she was so vulnerable?

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro heard her thoughts about running. It actually didn't phase him at all. During his few experiences of being inside of her mind, it was quite natural for her to think that way. Though, Haruka was quite stubborn and she wouldn't even try and do it. Plus, he'd just calmly follow on after her. Not to be creepy or scary, Haruka couldn't hide from him. She'd have to not think anything.

Emro tilted his head as they neared the stairs. "You're grip has gotten tighter. Is everything ok? You had thoughts about running away and me hurting you. It doesn't matter if you have those thoughts. You have every right to. But I want to reassure you that I won't be hurting you one bit."

Looking down the stairway Emro heard her question. The question about his first days. Emro never really thought about his first days of the mansion. He stood there a bit, thinking for a moment. "Well, my first days were not that interesting. I got trapped here, because I needed food and sleep, so I came into the mansion. I mostly spent my time looking for people to talk to. I wanted to know how they got here, and what this mansion is. So from day one, I've been researching this mansion. I then heard about people being masters or slaves. Well, I decided to become a master so I can look after othe people. I guess...from my experience of being subjected to abuse, I never wanted anyone else to go through that."

Emro looked up at Haruka and saw that her face was red. Tilting his head once again, he studied her body language. "You seem uneasy? Afraid? Something that you normally don't feel."

He was doing his best to not read her mind. It was a courtesy thing. Emro had already warped her reality and broke her mentally.

Emro waited for a bit before he began walking down the stairs. He turned his head and began looking down the stairs once again. The dining room was close by, so he wasn't in any hurry to get down there. His gaze shifted down to their hands. Emro began to wonder why she was holding onto it. Did she like him? He'd never felt that before. It wasn't something he'd be use to. Or, was he support? Did she hold his hand to feel safe? No. She wouldn't be safe with a man. So. Why was she holding onto his hand.

[Haruka Yasu]

Why was he being so nice? She almost couldn't stand it. What could possibly be gained by protecting people, by fixing this ugly world? A friend? A lover? And how long would that last? There is no such thing as forever; even their lives in this mansion would come eventually to an end---if not from themselves, then by the destruction of the planet beneath them. Perhaps they could outlive all of any other mankind, but they could never outlive the universe.

She wanted to scream at him, to threatened his loved ones until he hated her again, but part of her knew that he would eventually get over it; unconditional love seemed to radiate out of every pore of his body. It made her feel sick. How could she, who was abused, and he, who was abused, have such different standards? She'd even been here longer then he, so technically she should've had more life events to teach her this; but no, Emro... just had a wiser soul.

"I feel it all the time," she whispered tonelessly, refusing to meet his eyes, "this is just a different kind." The kind she didn't know too much about. This niceness, simple conversation... she was not used to it. She was used to the fiery steam of hate and shouting, to scream when she was frustrated, not express, to slit their throats when they didn't understand, not explain herself. It was fact that she was blind here, unexperienced but sure that she was horrible, that made her feel unstable now. It was the fact that she was trying to be stable, which made her unstable. Being extremely unstable---wishing holocaust for men---felt more stable to her, if that made any sense.

When someone is hurt, usually their first instinct is either to run away or be held, to be soothed and told it's all going to be alright. Sometimes, people even run away just to make sure they'd be chased, and caught, by those same soothing hands. Haruka's first reactions would've been to bury herself in someone's shoulder and cry, but when the incident had happened with Mr. Shermen, both had parents had already been gone by then, leaving her alone. She then realized that soothing hands are the mean ones, and while she's drawn to them and is repelled---due to her past experiences---leaving her in a confused half-world. She needed someone to hold her, to tell her it was alright, and yet she was afraid of them, and them saying that only made it worse, and yet okay, somehow, too, and... well, she wasn't even sure herself.

"Do you think it would be... more intelligent... for me... to have my memories taken away?" she asked mutely, making herself look up at him. Her heart stopped for a second as she did, as if her body was realizing again what gender she was with, and first she was very hot, and then she was very cold, and then she was nothing at all. Her knees buckled and her limp, lifeless body began to fall sideways, towards the bottom of the stairs.

She hadn't slept or eaten for three days, and with this emotional struggle within her, what was there to be expected? So far: only disaster.

[Emro Deucalion and Elspeth]

Emro nodded staring blankely at a painting on the wall. His eyes studied the colors brilliantly painted on the canvas. The colors swirled together to form a beauitful picture of a beachscape. He tore his eyes away from the painting to look back at Haruka.

He guessed that she wasn't used to the warm feeling that Emro liked to give. The feeling that he understood, but never was given. Something, that neglected him. "You're not used to kindess, are you? Well, you'll get used to it soon enough" Emro smiled warmly.

The question made him think. Would it be intelligent for her to lose her memories? If one lost their memories, their background would be shattered, their sense of being would be gone. He wasn't even sure if he could implant memories. Haruka wouldn't have so much hate anymore. But on the other hand, it was a large part of her live. It was who she was, but she wasn't that. Though, it would be a lot easier to fix her, so to speak, and Haruka wouldn't have to be so hateful. But, how much would he have to remove. If Emro could implant memories, he would have to completely rework her past. I don't know Haruka. There are pro and cons to it."

Haruka then began to fall. It was like she was falling in slow motion. Did she faint? Emro was alarmed and quickly wrapped his arms around her, and brought her body towards him in one quick motion. He held her close to him. "Haruka? Are you ok?

Emro began to think that she had collapse for a few reasons. She worked herself up about him being a boy, and her unstable feelings, her lack of sleep, her lack of food, or fear. Or it could be a mixture of different reasons.

If it was the personal psychological reasons, Haruka's confusement about herself. Why she was feeling these things. Why she was trusting him. Why she was getting close to someone, despite her personal beliefs of the male race. Emro looked down at the girl he was holding close, did she work herself up? Was all this mental pressure too much for her? Was this why she continued to ask about losing her memories? Did she want to forget her past? If she asks him to remove her memories, then he would. There was no way he was going to do it for her.