The weight of Being The Adult here is suddenly crashing down on him hard. I don’t recall if he ever actually learned people’s ages, but with everything that’s been going on, it’s easy to forget. Despite Vinzent and Viper being a mere two years younger than him, and the apparent severity of the action(s) involved, it’s hard not to feel like he’s suddenly mediating between a bunch of teenagers. Him, Haruka, and… Taran? Yeah, he’ll include Taran on that list for having a sensible head on his shoulders. Then again, it wasn’t too long ago someone had to step in on his bickering with Abel. Suddenly he feels almost a bit embarrassed about that, for some reason.
God help him, he’s starting to feel bad for R.N.A.
Vinzent Mayer “I fucked up and broke her trust. Of course, she wants me gone. Not like she had my trust anyway because she kept playing with it like a toy until I fuck up then oops! My fault now!”
“Okayyyy…? Sounds like, uh.”
Stop and think and invoke the not-literal spirit of Liz oh god, oh fuck. Thank god she wasn’t here, but he could really use her help right about now.
“… uh, sounds like. It’s been going on for a while, huh.”
A bit noncommittal, but this is so completely above his pay grade and relevant experience. He’s a dropout pizza man, not someone pursuing a Master’s in a field that would help at all here.
Vinzent Mayer Yeah ouch. It’s bad. Enough to need treatement at this point.
He mutters to himself as he improvises with the two (2) napkins to get them folded and wadded in such a way that they wouldn’t immediately soak through from the bleeding, even applying pressure appropriately. Looks like he can focus when the situation calls for it, apparently. The way he’s got to position his hand is slightly awkward, and he’s not exactly keen on babying Vinzent over to Viper at the moment. Or ever. Frankly, he wouldn’t even say what he’s doing right now is particularly selfless. He’s just tired of seeing people hurt each other and themselves.
“Keep holding it like that. Push here,” he presses down slightly harder for emphasis, positioning Vinzent’s arm upwards so his hand is raised above the shoulder, “and keep it… uhhh, ’bout there should be fine, I think?”
It would probably be more reassuring if he sounded more certain of it, but it’s Melvin. That’s all the confidence you’re getting right now. Once Vinzent has his own hand… handled, he steps back. God damn it. Okay, great, he’s just gotta find Viper.
“… We’ll make it quick.”
After a brief searching montage, we’ll say they run into Viper serendipitously so she can pop in after this round of replies. He’s been practising what he was going to say once he got here in his head, because he is not a very good liar but the truth of the situation is… not something that needs to be shared right now. Deep breath, man, you got this, just be cool. (Maybe don’t be cool. Melvin is not cool. Just be normal, he’s much better at that.)
“Hey, Vipes.” We’re on nickname terms now purely because of a typo but it does sound like something he would say, so congrats on the upgrade-by-funny. “Need you to, uh, push that magic button thing. There was a, uhh, bit of a mining accident, and I wanna make sure Vinze is cleaned up right before, uh, getting Haruka to give it another look over or something.”
Well, he’s a better liar than Abel, for as much as that says about anything. It’s not a great excuse, honestly, but hopefully it’s enough of one that she won’t push the issue. Maybe if he’s direct enough about it, states the request enough like a fact that this is going to Happen, they’ll both just let it pass without it becoming a federal frickin’ issue. He can already feel that it’s going to be tense. Don’t make him regret this.
