The Mysterious Rattle 10 (Patreon)

 Original Idea: Sophiie93

Copy Editor: Angela

The days went by fast and the weekend was finally here. James and Melany were sitting on the couch with the TV playing in the background. Melany’s left head was paying attention while her right head’s eyes slowly drooped. She was in lounge clothes, her new blue dress carefully being kept away like a small treasure, wary of dirtying or wrinkling it.

James looked over to Melany’s slowly snoozing head and whispered. “Mel… Mel… are you asleep?”

“Mmmh” her left head replied, trying not to move too much and jostle her other half.

“How can you sleep with only one head?” James asked quizzically. This conversation was far more interesting to him than anything on the TV.

“Hehe, why are you always so curious about my body?” Melany’s left head said softly. Her right head yawned and slowly started opening her eyes.

“Because, I live with you?” James said, a little stumped for words himself.

“It’s been two weeks already. What more do you need to know.” Melany chuckled lazily and stretched, shrugging off the tired haze of her small nap.

“Well I mean, a lot of things have happened. I mean, I saw how Chuck reacted to you, and that dress. It looked so great… It made me want to get to know you better… er I mean. I mean it just… showed off parts of your body that… eheheh… you know are amazing…” James was stumbling over his words again. He was honestly curious but didn’t want to come off as weird or perverted.

Melany suddenly blushed on both sets of cheeks. “Amazing? Me?”

“Yeah, I mean, your body lets you do things no one else can. It’s just amazing!”

“Oh…” Melanie said, her flushed expression turning into a small frown. “It’s, just my body then.”

“Did, I say something wrong?” James asked concerned.

“It’s nothing…” said Melany, slowly getting up to walk to the bedroom.

“Please tell me,” said James, worried he stuck his foot in his mouth again. “I don’t want to make you feel bad.

“James, please drop it…” said Melany as she opened the bedroom door.

“Mel I-“ he grabbed one of Mel’s hands trying to stop her to get to talk with him. He instantly knew it was a mistake.

“James you are such an idiot!” she said turning around and pouting. “You are always asking about my body. What’s it like to sleep? What’s it like to have a tail? What’s it like to have two heads? How many breasts do you have?” Her other head picked up where the first one left off “But you never ask about me! What do I like? What do I hate? What do I want to eat? You don’t even know what my favorite color is!”

“Mel… I…” James said, shocked at Mel’s sudden and honest outburst.

“And that…” one head said. “Hurts…” the other said. Melany said wrapping four of her arms around herself like she was curling up into a ball. James gently and tentatively took the other two hands in his. Mel jerked back a bit, but eventually let him approach.

“Mel, I… I’m sorry. I’m not good at this stuff. I’m shy and I’ve never lived with anyone before. I’m not really great at talking to my friends,” James admitted with a bit of embarrassment. “But I like you. I enjoy spending time with you. I love your personality. I just… don’t know how to express it so sometimes I just, watch.”

“I just want you to get to know me as more than some mutant girl,” Mel said, her arms relaxing a bit. “Like, I know so much about you. I know you love fish. You are so excited every time I cook it. You love herbal tea. You have a whole cupboard full of it. You like Q&A talk shows, because whenever we turn the TV on its flipped to one of those channels.  I didn’t even have to ask James, I just… paid attention.

Melany’s eyes were starting to tear up. “I know you are a bit lazy, but you are ashamed of it. You always take naps when I’m not looking because you don’t want me to judge you. You apologize if I catch you even if I tell you, you shouldn’t.” Melany laughed a bit and James couldn’t help joining in. 

“Maybe…” James said softly “Maybe it’s because I admire you.”

“Yeah, you admire my body…” Melany said with a pout.

“No Mel, I admire you! I mean, you’ve been through so much and you are still so strong. You always try your best to help out, and try to see the good in the world even when you are scared. You’re just an amazing person Mel, not just because of your body.”

Melany looked up to James and with a bit of courage asked “More amazing than Caroline?”

James couldn’t help but laugh. “Mel, if you think I don’t know a lot about you, I know next to nothing about Caroline.”

Melany’s pouts turned to smiles as she ran into the bedroom. “Hold on, I’ll be right out.”

“Mel, what are you doing?” James asked.

“Well, you said wearing the dress made you want to get to know me so I should wear it more often!”

“Wait!” James protested. “Didn’t you say you wanted to save it to go out?”

Melanie was already taking off her pants and panties “Then we will just have to go out, won’t we?” She had started removing her blouse before she noticed James staring at her mouth agape. “Uh, could you… give me some privacy?” she said, holding her blouse down with her hands.

“Oh yes, sure sure” James said as he quickly left the room, taking a seat on the couch. The image of Melany changing was still burned into his brain. “Wow, she has amazing legs” he thought to himself before poking himself on the head for his own thoughts. “I mean she has an amazing personality! Come on James” he mumbled.

Minutes later Melany walked out of the bedroom wearing the dress and heels, posing softly in front of James. “What do you think?” she said. “Does it still make you curious?”

“Wow!” James said, noticing how mature the dress made Melany look. It gave her an aura of confidence, which he seemed to admire. “You seem to be getting good at walking in heels.”

“I practiced” Melany said, showing off her tone legs. “I don’t have much to do when you are at work, so this let me pass the time.”

It was then that James realized, Melanie was doing all this for him. That’s why she treated the dress so special. That’s why she was upset when all he noticed was her body. She just wanted him to notice her, for her. He remembered the conversation they had minutes ago and got up out of his seat. “You are full of surprises Mel, and that’s why I like you so much. OK, let’s go out.”

He walked to the door and opened it but noticed that Mel hadn’t moved from her spot. He looked back to her. “Mel? Are you OK?” He extended a hand to her.

Melanie balled her shaky hand into a fist before grabbing onto his tight. She took a few deep breaths and looked into James’s eyes. “I’m going to be” she said with both heads, and with that she took her first willing steps outside of James’s apartment.