The Mysterious Rattle - Epilogue (part 1) (Patreon)

Original Idea: Sophiie93

Copy Editor: Leena (@myLifeIsARPG)

Melany was happier than ever over the next few days. It finally felt like she had a home. Her home. It wasn’t just a room she was taking up. It wasn’t some kindness she was being given by someone else. She finally had a place where she belonged.

She would routinely apologize to James, saying she would never run away again. James just laughed it off, joking about how if she ran away, she should at least take him next time. They truly felt like a couple, and now that everyone knew, the pressure was off both of them. No one was hiding. They were just being themselves and were growing closer by the day.

In short order, Melany was able to really put effort into putting her life together. She enrolled in adult education classes and caught up with her studies very quick. Perhaps it was because two heads were better than one, or perhaps it was because she wanted to prove to James that she meant all the promises she made about taking care of herself.

She also formally accepted the job by Hydra Games as a PR representative and mascot. Certain members of the team were a little curious when the only mutant girl for miles around just so happened to look exactly like the main character of their new project. A couple people caught on to Caroline’s plan, but it didn’t matter. The idea was too good, and Caroline was more than happy to take the credit.

Melany’s first big gig was going to be at an upcoming gaming convention where the team would formally unveil their project. It was huge, and Melany was going to have to be on stage in front of hundreds if not thousands of people. She had come a long way from being afraid to step out of the house.

When the day finally arrived, the team met together backstage. Everyone kept their eyes on the monitors waiting for their cue.

“James? You OK?” Tom asked.

“Look at the kid, he’s sweating!” Chuck said with a loud guffaw. “You’ve done this song and dance plenty o’ times. It’s gonna be fine. It’s a solid project. Everyone’s gonna like it.”

“It’s not that guys it’s-“

“Melany” Tom and Chuck said in unison. They could read James like a book.

“It’s just, she’s so scared to go out in public and we are parading her in front of a huge crowd. Look at all those people. Even I’d be scared to go out there,” James said with a concerned look on his face.

Chuck laughed some more. “Well it’s a good thing Mel’s not a wimp like you are,” he said, slapping James on the back.

Tom laughed a bit to himself as well. “James, she’s got this. She’s rehearsed this a dozen times. She knows exactly what to do. Just trust her.”

James took a deep breath. “OK,” he said with a reserved sigh.

He nervously looked at his watch as the seconds counted down to their stage cues. “You know,” he said eyes still fixated on the ticking numbers, “sometimes I wish that Melany had more mutant friends.”

Chuck piped up like an excited child on Christmas. “Aaaaah looking for a little ménage a-“

“Not like that Chuck. Jeez!” Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. “I just wish Mel could share her experiences with someone who kind of gets where she’s coming from.”

“James? Do you think you need to be a mutant to understand where Mel is coming from?” asked Tom. “She’s a person man, just like you or me. She talks to you every day. She’s spent a lot of time with me at rehearsals. She talks with Caroline practically every day. Heck, she even talks to Chuck… when he behaves himself…”

“I heard that..” Chuck said with a huff.

“The point is, she has a lot of people she can share her experiences with. Sure, maybe we don’t know what it’s like to have two heads, but that’s not what’s important in her life right now. She’s going to school. She’s representing our company, James! And we all get to participate. We are a huge part of the next phase of her life.”

The clock was nearing showtime. James was too worried to argue. “Yeah, I guess you are right,” he mumbled. It was just too in his nature to worry about Mel over every little thing she did.

As the clock hit zero, a bunch of presenters took the stage. No one from their company yet, just a bunch of hype men reading a canned introduction for their company. It was all buzz words and jargon, standard convention dribble. Across the stage, Caroline was making the final adjustments to Melany’s outfit, buckling up the foam padded armor, strapping on the ornate and overly stylized decorations common to RPG character design.

“Mel… MEL!” Caroline snapped her fingers in front of Mel’s face to get her attention. “Earth to Mel, you ready?”

“Y-yes. I’m ready…” Mel said, obviously terrified.

“Come on girl, relax…” Caroline said rubbing Mel’s shoulders a bit before attaching the comically large pauldrons of the costume. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Just do it as we practiced.”

“It’s not that…” Mel said looking off to the distance. “I know the presentation like the back of my hands…”

“Then what?” asked Caroline.

“It’s just… do you think I’m attractive?”

“Mel, are we really doing this now?” Caroline said with a bit of snark. “You aren’t a helpless little girl anymore. From what you told me you asked James that like every day since you started living with him. You gotta get over your hang ups.”

“It’s just… I mean… me and him haven’t done anything… you know… sexual yet…”

“My god Mel, the fluff will be over any second is this really the time?”

Melanie bit her lower lips and shrunk back a bit.

Caroline let loose a huge sign. “Look Mel, James is head over heels for you. But you are in a new relationship and things are just a little awkward when they are fresh. You gotta be sure it’s the right time, make sure everyone’s consenting and all that, he’s probably just waiting for some kind of signal.”

“Signal?” Mel said quizzically.

The stagehand was counting them down, so Caroline had to rush her explanation. “Yeah, you know. Show that you are interested. Turn him on. Or you know, just tell him you wanna do it… look we don’t have time, you are on!”

Caroline practically pushed Mel on stage, timed to when their two headed character showed up in the trailer on the big screen. The audience cheered, always happy to see an interactive presentation. Melany waved and struck poses exactly like the character in the trailer did. Tom was monitoring their engagement and it was through the roof. Everyone was talking about their game “Shize: The Mysterious Flame.”

It was all over in a second. Melany rushed back stage to hugs and cheers from her team. Everyone was ready to get out of their business clothes (and Mel’s costume) and hit a bar. Luckily there was one close by. The food was plentiful and the booze flowed like water.

“Did you see the numbers?” Tom said excited. “We might have hit the biggest spike in Twitch viewers of the whole conference. We keep this up, and our pre-orders will go through the roof!”

“What can I say?” said Caroline, “the idea’s good, the game’s good, we got a killer mascot, of course people’ll be interested.”

“What do ya think?” said Chuck already drunk. “We gonna get a million pre-orders? Two million? Heck, we can take down Final Fantasy…”

“Hold on Chuck,” Tom laughed. “This is a new IP and we are barely a AA company. Don’t expect to pull in Call of Duty money. But I’d say we are at the very least poised to go positive before we go gold, which is nothing to scoff at.”

As Tom, Chuck, and Caroline talked business, James and Mel leaned on each other’s shoulders, holding each other’s hands and enjoying each other’s company.

“Hey Mel?” said James. “I uh… have a gift for you when we get home, to thank you for your hard work on this project?”

“Oh really?” Mel said putting on her best sultry voice. “Well I have something in mind tooooo.” Mel’s right head turned toward Caroline and gave her a wink. “Me and Caroline just have to stop at a store really quick before we head home to pick up your “surprise.” Mel turned her other head and gave her another wink. Caroline rolled her eyes a bit at how obvious she was being before giving a thumbs up.

James couldn’t have been more confused.