August Intruder [SOL Progression Fantasy]

Melmarc wasn't so sure what Ark was so disappointed about. No matter how close he and Pelumi were, she had just shown up in their room unannounced and unasked when she was healthily not supposed to know where they were.

It required questions and answers.

Pelumi leaned into him. Melmarc leaned into her, lowering himself so that their faces could be closer.

"Are you always this suspicious?" she asked in a whisper.

"Just in case you were wondering," Ark announced from where he was, "I've got very good hearing."

Pelumi grew a little embarrassed. If her complexion had been lighter, Melmarc suspected that she would've gone red.

"People usually whisper around Gifted easily without any problems," Pelumi said, turning around to look at him.

Melmarc could agree to that, but there was also a reason that was possible. As for Ark, he shrugged in response to Pelumi.

"What can I say," he muttered, while Melmarc looked for Spitfire. "I'm a special kind of Gifted."

Melmarc could not find Spitfire.

Under the bed? He wondered.

A tired frown touched his lips as he saw blood stains on the white carpet. It was simple dots, nothing specific. Overshadowing it was an odd sense that he was getting from Pelumi.

"So why Kpelumi not Pelumi?" Ark asked, keeping her attention. "Why is it not pronounced as spelt?"

"School and Schmidt," Pelumi said flatly, then shot him a cocky grin.

Ark opened his mouth with a raised hand, paused, frowned, then conceded. "Fair."

Both of them stood looking at each other from across the distance for a moment before Pelumi nodded. "I like you, you're fun."

"I like you," Ark returned with a smile. "You make him anxious."

Pelumi looked back at Melmarc with a smirk. "I make you anxious?"

Melmarc walked into the room with a sigh. How was Ark saying that she made him anxious without any touch of dissonance.

"You don't make me anxious," he corrected.

"Then how do you explain how you react anytime you get a message from her?" Ark asked, looking smug.

Melmarc could not understand why Ark was figuratively throwing him under the bus. The look in Ark's eyes said that he was working through a plan.

Pelumi's grin widened, grew cockier. "I make you anxious."

"I don't like making your messages wait," he said. It wasn't a big deal. "That's just what it is."

"You should see the way he moves when he sees your name," Ark continued. "Always so full of life."

"Ark," Melmarc warned.

Ark raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright."

He was holding back his laughter. Melmarc on his own part was more concerned about the sensation he was feeling from Pelumi. He found himself resisting the urge to get closer to her and get a feel of whatever it was that was happening. Why? Because he had a feeling that if he got closer, he would sniff her hair. And he was not that guy. What was the pull? Something about it was... unnatural.

Dressed in a blue jean and a simple long sleeved shirt, Pelumi had her hair held up in a bun. With her type of hair, it looked very different from when fair skinned girls held theirs up in a bun. It looked… interesting.

"Wait," Pelumi said out of nowhere, turning to Ark. "Were you named after the Ark of the covenant or Noah's Ark?"

"None," Ark answered without missing a beat.

The question about his name was not popular but it was a question he had been asked a few times before, especially in church.

"But that is your full name," she said, voice uncertain, as if she was trying to ask a question without asking a question.

"Nope," Ark answered. "It's the short form. The complete name is Tar'arkna."

Pelumi paused. "That's... definitely not English." Her jaw dropped as if she was surprised by her own words. "Oh, my God. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that," she panicked. "What I meant is that I've not heard an English name that sounds like that."

Ark laughed in good nature. "It's not. But, to prevent reactions like that, we tell people Ark. Also, I like Ark."

Melmarc watched Pelumi breath out a sigh of relief. He couldn't help but smile. He had never seen someone panic so quickly because they were scared they had offended someone by mis-etymologizing their name.

Relieved, Pelumi pointed at Melmarc. "Melmarc," she pointed at Ark. "Tar… Tala…" she frowned. "No," she said, holding up a hand when Ark opened his mouth. "Don't say a word. I swear I've got this."

People usually didn't have it. That was the beauty of Ark's name. When he told them, he said it casually. Then they moved on only to realize that as simple as it sounded, their brains had actually not retained it.

"Tar'arkna," she declared after a moment. "Got it." She grinned at Melmarc. "Told ya."

Ark chuckled. "Took you a while, but you got it. So, I forgive you."

"Melmarc," Pelumi said after a moment.

The look in her eyes told Melmarc that something was about to go down.

"I'm listening," he said.

"What's my name? My full name."

Melmarc rolled his eyes. She was grinning. It did not take a scientist to know that she was trying to get back at Ark.

"Oluwapelumi," he answered.

She looked back at Ark as if she'd won.

Ark folded his arms over his chest. Without missing a beat, he said, "Oluwapelumi."

He made no mistake in the pronunciation. He was smug. Proud of himself.

Pelumi's jaw dropped and she turned on Melmarc. "You taught him."

There was no accusation in her voice just the joviality he knew her for. Also the fun levels of dramatization she could be prone to when she was enjoying herself.

"He asked me your name and I told him," Melmarc said. "And he remembered."

"Why won't I?" Ark said. "That he memorized the name was interesting. It's also an interesting name."

Pelumi laughed a little and moved to plop down on the bed before stopping herself. "Can I sit down?"

"Sure," Melmarc answered, heading over to the chair he had been sitting on, the one Ark was still standing next to. "We'll only have the room for a few days before moving to the school apartments."

Pelumi sat on the bed, then laid down on her back.

Melmarc paused before he sat down. When he had passed her, he'd felt the same pull again. It was similar to a feeling he'd had once before. He just couldn't put a finger on it.

"Are you okay?" Pelumi asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

Melmarc nodded as he took his seat.

"You were frowning," Pelumi explained. "Was it wrong of me to stop by unannounced? I was just trying to surprise you."

"Uncle Dorthna was right," Melmarc muttered under his breath in realization.

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Ark looked down at him on his chair. "About?"

"We turn a sentence into ten," he said, to Pelumi, he added, "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just very confused. It hasn't been that long since we got here. So, I'm wondering how you…"

His words trailed off as he felt a touch of fear. It crawled over his skin like a tired child not sure if it wanted their parent's attention or if it was on them simply out of habit.

She's afraid of answering?

Pelumi was silent for a while before finally sighing in resignation. "I made friends with the student at the front desk."

"Tyrese?" Ark asked. "Cool guy."

Pelumi shook his head. "Can't really say that I see it. He flirts sometimes even though he has a girlfriend. I don't think it's intentional. I think that's just how he talks to girls. Anyway, I made friends with him, and since you told me that you were coming to Fallen High, too, I've kind of been keeping tabs."

"Keeping tabs?" Melmarc asked, pressing on.

"Every night I chat him up asking if you've arrived," she said, seating up and playing with her fingers. "He actually told me when you got in. I felt I should wait a little longer so that you can settle in before coming to check on you."

Ark shared a look with Melmarc.

"There's got to be something else, right?" he asked.

Melmarc wasn't sure. She was definitely worried about something but he wasn't picking up any dissonance.

Pelumi shook her head. "Nothing else, Ark. It's not like I was stalking you or something. I was just… paying attention. Then I saw the video online and I just kind of… got very worried and I thought that maybe you might not come because you did not…" her voice caught in her throat. "Then I wanted to call and didn't and thought that maybe… I didn't want you to think I was a bad friend for not calling and I thought that when you see me, you'll think that I'm not a good friend and…"

"I wouldn't want to talk to you?" Melmarc finished for her.

Pelumi nodded. This time she was looking down at her fingers, unable to meet any of their gazes.

That would definitely explain the fear. She was afraid that he would find out that she knew what happened to him and didn't call.

Ark stood with folded arms, watching the both of them talk.

Pelumi gave Melmarc a sheepish smile. It was apologetic and ashamed. It hoped that things would not get bad between them.

"Would it make a difference if I said that I was sorry?" she asked.

Melmarc was very certain that it would not make any difference if she did. He hadn't even been thinking about her after waking up from the plane incident. In fact, he hadn't been thinking about her until he'd found her in front of his door.

Now he had to calm her worries down by explaining to her that there was no problem and explaining to her why there was no problem.

You really don't like explaining, do you? he thought to himself when he found himself holding back a sigh.

I don't mind explaining to Ark, though.

With that, he squatted in front of her so that he looked up to meet her gaze. Her smile twitched a little. She was doing her best to keep it as natural as possible, even though it looked completely awkward and almost painful.

Pelumi smiled with her teeth. Almost all of them showed when she smiled. They were white, as if she whitened her teeth regularly.

Her eyes were shaky, unsure. It made her look far less confident than he remembered.

Pelumi scratched awkwardly at her cheeks. "Can you put your other knee down? It kind of looks like you are proposing."

"Too late," Ark laughed.

Melmarc and Pelumi turned to find him holding his phone up in front of him.

"Mom's getting a picture of this in the blink of an eye," he grinned. "And… sent."

Melmarc sighed. He'd planned on squatting. He had no idea when he'd put one knee to the ground.

"Pelumi," he said, trying his best to banish the questions his mother would ask and the teasing he would have to listen to. "I promise you that I was not bothered that you didn't call."

Her smile grew a little more natural now, more relaxed. Interestingly enough, Melmarc grew more relaxed as well.

"And now Nin has it," Ark declared a little too happily.

Melmarc closed his eyes in exasperation before opening them again. He found Pelumi staring at him with interest. But there was something off about it. She wasn't looking at his face, instead, she was looking at a specific section of his face.

"You look cute when you're tired," she commented, eyes still focused on where they were focused on. They were lost in something of a haze, as if they were not acting independently of the rest of her.

"I'm not tired," Melmarc told her.

"I mean tired," she explained. "Like tired of someone."

Melmarc paused, then nodded. "I am tired of Ark, that's for sure."

He expected Ark to make a comment on that but heard nothing from Ark. Somehow, Ark's ever present personality felt absent. It was almost as if he wasn't even in the room. Melmarc had the urge to check on his brother but didn't want to disrupt whatever part of his face Pelumi was looking at.

He tried to follow her gaze as her smile waned into something new. Her lips parted slightly and she seemed to breathe in through them. They looked… contemplative.

Her hand moved slowly. They stopped, hovering just in front of his lips.

"Are they always this pink?" she asked in a tone he couldn't quite place.

Melmarc's hand touched his lips and he shrugged. "Not sure. I don't always pay attention to them."

Her eyes moved once more. "The way you don't know that you have soft hands?" she asked, her smile returning.

Melmarc nodded. "You're the first person to tell me that."

Dissonant.

"You're the first girl to tell me that besides my sister," Melmarc corrected.

That got a surprised look from Pelumi. "I figured your sister might've told you that."

Melmarc shrugged, then he rose back to his feet.

Pelumi watched him rise. Her expression changed slightly. It resembled something of a sense of loss now. Like someone who'd hesitated a little too long to make a decision they really wanted to make only for the choice to be taken away from them.

"Are you good?" Melmarc asked her.

Pelumi nodded. "Yeah, it's nothing."

Dissonant.

"Anyway," she said with a little extra cheerfulness. "You may not feel bad about it, but I do. So, I've got to make it up to you."

Melmarc paused. The way Pelumi worked was… interesting. She had waited for how he felt, confirmed he was okay. Now that she had confirmed it, making herself feel okay was the agenda to be dealt with.

He was still thinking when Pelumi spoke again.

"You're sure you're not angry?" she asked, looking a little worried again. "Because I know that some people like to say they are fine when they are not fine."

Melmarc smiled. "I'm fine, Lu."

"Are you sure? You're not just saying that you're fine because you will be fine? Because I know that…" She paused, eyes growing wide. "What did you call me?"

"Lu?"

Her expression remained puzzled so Melmarc had to explain.

"Pelumi is kind of long... in a way," he said. "And I know that it's short for Oluwapelumi but I just felt like it could be shorter, so I just…" he scratched the back of his neck suddenly feeling nervous about nicknaming her nickname. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"

Pelumi silenced him with a shake of her head. "Oh, no, it's fine. Some of my friends back home call me Lumi."

"Then I'll call you Lumi."

"No. You'll call me Lu. It's kind of Chinese sounding." She paused, thoughtful, then smiled a little too wide. "I like it."

"I like it, too," Ark said for the first time in a while.

Melmarc looked at him, and he looked bored and a little disappointed.

As for Pelumi, she pointed at Ark and said, "Right? But it's Pelumi to you."

"Certainly." Ark held his hands up in surrender. "Always Pelumi."

Pelumi smiled at that just as Melmarc's phone vibrated. He looked down at his phone, remembering that he'd been chatting with Patience.

The message unlocked and it read. Got a call from my folks. It's late, too, so I'll just see the new guys tomorrow. After the tests. I'm calling it a night.

Melmarc locked the display. When he raised his eyes back to Pelumi, she looked away immediately.

"Anyway," she said, drawing out the word. "It's late, and I've been told that we have a hectic day tomorrow. So I'll just leave you guys to do whatever it is you were doing while I go prepare myself for it."

Melmarc nodded slowly. That feeling of being pulled to her was still there. It felt as if he was waiting for her to call him, as if she was supposed to say his name and then he would answer. As if he did not want to miss the timing and answer a little too late or too slow.

He kept his contemplation from his face as he walked her to the door. He refused to believe that the feeling came simply because she was a girl. There was something else to it. He refused to believe that being around a cute girl would make him start feeling different.

Looking back at Ark as he opened the door for Pelumi, he found his brother smiling knowingly.

"Oh, I just realized something," Pelumi said, perking up as she stood in front of the open door.

"What's that?" Melmarc asked.

"You and your brother have the same short name."

Melmarc nodded even before she said it.

"Ark and Arc," she said, smiling. "Same sound."

"Different meaning," Melmarc completed for her. "I assure you that it was not intentional of my parents. It just happened."

Pelumi shrugged. "It's nice. Anyway, have a nice night. I'll see you tomorrow."

Melmarc nodded. "You, too."

With that, Pelumi turned and headed down the hallway.

Closing the door and making sure that it was locked, Melmarc turned to look at his brother. Spitfire was standing on Ark's shoulder, reappearing from wherever it had vanished into.

"She's cute," Ark said. "And you're stupid."

Melmarc raised a brow. "Why am I stupid?"

"Because when a girl wants to kiss you, you're supposed to notice it."

Melmarc blinked. Ark said a lot of interesting and stupid things but this one was… Melmarc was usually good at telling the difference, but not with this one.

"She wasn't trying to kiss me," he said, instead.

Ark shook his head. "I didn't say that she was trying to, I'm saying that she wanted to. Heck, I even gave you guys the room."

"Did you?"

Ark threw his arms up in exasperation. "Dude." He pointed at the kitchen. "I dipped into the kitchen. How the hell did you not even notice it?"

"Then how do you know that we didn't kiss?"

"Because I saw the expressions on your faces when I came out." Ark looked away, a little embarrassed. "And I was watching."

Melmarc's eyes widened. "You thought I was about to get kissed and you were watching?"

"I wanted to make sure you didn't mess it up," Ark protested. He paused, looking chastised. "Now that I say it out loud, it sounds a little perverted of me."

Melmarc cocked his head to the side. "A little?"

"Oh, stuff a can in it. We both know that I'm not perverted." He took up Melmarc's seat at the reading table. "Anyway, I don't think it was just lust that made her want to kiss you. I think she really likes you. She kept smiling a lot. Kind of hard to tell if she was blushing, though."

Melmarc shrugged, saying something he'd once heard Delano say as he walked up to Ark. "Dark skinned girls don't blush. They just smile really wide."

He paused. She had smiled a little too wide at one point in their conversation, though. Had she been blushing? Did she like him? What if she did?

The thoughts continued to flood his mind until he caught Ark looking at him with a victorious grin.

Melmarc rolled his eyes at his brother. "Oh, fuck you. I'm going to bed."

He plopped down on his bed and closed his eyes.

A new school and a chance to make new friends. He wondered how tomorrow's test would go.

"You know I'm crashing here tonight, right?" Ark said.

"I know," he answered in a mumble.

It wasn't like he was going to chase his brother out of the room.

"Good."

He heard Ark get up and move. It made him open his eyes. It revealed Ark squatting next to his duffel bag.

"What are you doing?" he asked, suspicious.

"Getting a shirt," Ark answered as if it explained everything.

"I'm confused."

Reaching up to his shoulder, Ark scratched Spitfire's heard. "Spitfire can't sleep peacefully if he doesn't have a shirt to chew on."

Melmarc leapt from the bed immediately. "Oh, no you don't."

Ark was already pulling a shirt out of the bag.

Melmarc leapt for his brother.

Ark leapt out of the way.

Spitfire leapt for the shirt.