mel-ancholymuse

[mel-ancholymuse]

bennyshippe​:

as she gives him the same line she’d told him a few weeks ago, benny just nods his head again. it’s not that he doubts that mel’s been trying to figure it out, but a small part of him had hoped that maybe by now she would know one way or the other. that they could be taken out of this weird and frustrating limbo they’ve been stuck in for the past near month. and then when she says there’s nothing left to figure out and let’s out a humorless laugh, his heart stops for a second. “what do you mean?” he asks, voice laced with concern even though benny’s not sure if he wants to hear the answer. after the way she reacted to seeing him, he likes to hope that it didn’t mean anything negative regarding him, but there was still a spark of doubt that maybe it could be. 

she doesn’t want to talk about it — the words are right there on her tongue. and maybe under any other circumstance she’d just say it, tell benny that it was nothing or that it didn’t really matter just so she could avoid having to acknowledge it. but she’s on her way to drunk and has never held anything back when she’s like this. “hans and i broke up.” the words are accompanied with a shrug and she tries her best to get her tone to come off as nonchalant, to seem as if she doesn’t care. but it couldn’t be further from the truth. she’s caught somewhere between still being annoyed with hans and wanting to apologize just so they wouldn’t be fighting anymore, so they could pretend nothing had transpired between them in the first place because she didn’t know how to move forward without hans in her life. the truth was in the morning when sobriety hit, she’d be devastated. but right now, all she could do was try to act like it didn’t matter.

[mel-ancholymuse]

terithemuse​:

“You’ve taught me everything I know,” Teri laughs softly, but even as she says it as a joke, it’s undoubtedly true. Sometimes she thinks about where she would be if Mel didn’t move in when Teri was just a little girl, how different she would have been if she was left with only their father for guidance. “I’m sure you can probably think of a couple reasons if you really tried.” Cuddling into Mel’s side as she wraps her arms around her in a hug, there’s no hiding the smile that lights up her face, her mood immediately lifting. They don’t do this much anymore, her older sister being more selective with her affection, but she’ll never pass up the opportunity. “What do you mean?” she repeated blankly, looking over at her sister with a small frown. Over the past few months she’s made her feelings clear enough that both her sisters and her best friend have caught on; if Chip felt the same way, he would have said something. They’re just friends, and she’s slowly doing her best to make her peace with that. “He didn’t get me a bunny, we got a bunny together!” Teri points out as though there’s much of a difference. As if that was something friends typically did together. If she really thought about it she would realize that they only got a bunny because of her, that she certainly used cuteness to her advantage to get him to agree. “You’ve met Ears before!” Reaching for her phone again, she pulls up the album dedicated to the bunny, using the opportunity to show Mel the countless photos she’s taken “Ears is still a stupid name but isn’t he so cute?”

“and yet, somehow we’re still polar opposites.” mel laughs. they often joke about how sometimes it felt like mel was more of a mother to teri than anything, and as much as she rebuked the concept of being called a sister-mom-friend, mel knew there was a lot of truth to the sentiment. their father hadn’t raised a single one of them prior to teri, and it showed. so, mel did what she always did — take care of people, filling the cold empty space her mother had left with the warmth of loving teri. “you give him too much credit.” for as long as mel has known hans she has been his biggest (and sometimes only) supporter. he was her best friend friend long before he ever became something more, so of course she could find more reasons to stick it out with Hans. she didn’t really have to try all that hard, even if a lot of the reasons revolved around familiarity, comfort and routine. but still, mel can’t resist the urge to tease him every now again. if she wasn’t quite literally wrapped around teri right now, mel would roll her eyes and be done with this conversation, walking away as teri played dumb on the topic. “oh because there’s a difference?” she snorts, not believing for once second that teri honestly thinks chip would have gotten the bunny if teri didn’t specifically ask him to. “i have met ears,” she nods, honestly forgetting for a second that they’d named it that. it was something that stayed with her for days until she eventually tried to push it out of her mind. but despite knowing exactly what the bunny looks like, she still looks down at the photos teri shows her as if she’s never seen it before. “he’s the cutest. but if you think it’s a dumb name why’d you let him name it ears?”

[mel-ancholymuse]

terithemuse​:

For nearly their entire relationship, Mel has been the one looking after Teri, taking the youngest Muse under her wing and doing everything she could to make sure she’s okay. There have been very few instances where Mel opens up enough to let Teri return the favour, only giving her brief flashes of vulnerability before she boards her walls up again. But ever since they started the second leg of the tour, there’s no question that something’s wrong. Despite tireless effort with Penny, she still doesn’t have the answer to what went wrong in her relationship with Hans, but deleted photos from Instagram is enough to tell her that it’s worse than ever. “Hey Mel, are you awake?” she whispers, keeping her voice low enough to not wake up Clio across the room. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Rolling over, she turns to face her sister, giving her a serious look even though she likely can’t see it in the dark. “Whatever’s going on with you, I’m here for you.” // @mel-ancholymuse​

for as long as she could remember, mel had kept everything she’d ever thought and felt close to her heart. her father never had the time to listen and her mother made it very clear that she never had the interest. and so, little mel built walls around her heart in an effort to preserve her feelings as best as she could. and as mel got older those walls stenghthened. the little girl who spent her childhood being told she was less than everyone else had outgrown most things, but she’d never outgrown the need to treat her heart like a fortress. it’s probably why she was having such a hard time with the current state of her love life. all it took was a moment of honesty and vulnerability to resolve the mess she’d made, a mature conversation with benny and hans respectively would settle it. that was all she needed — to let the walls down for just a second. but something about that was so paralyzing to her that she wouldn’t even consider it, settling instead for longing and emptiness where laughter and bright smiles once lived with both of them. “yeah.” mel answers Teri, voice quieter than usual as she stares up at the ceiling. pretending to be asleep was a viable option but when it came to teri it was always just best to go with whatever she wanted as opposed to fight it. “that’s sweet ter, really.” it wasn’t a direct answer to her sister’s question, just more avoiding the problem at hand, and that was deliberate. “there’s nothing going on though, i’m fine.”

[mel-ancholymuse]

dirtydeville​:

loading up the google meet for his lessons with mel, phil tilts his laptop downward a bit so that the camera is more so on his torso than his face. he wanted the first thing she’d see to be his shirt he’d bought himself as a christmas present. as he enters the meet to a round of applause, he can’t help but beam and throw his arms into the air, the movement putting the jello box printed on his t-shirt front and center in mel’s line of sight. “i’m a songwriter!” he parrots back, leaning forward to let his face be in view and grinning at her. “it feels good. i have a writing credit! i’m like… a real popstar now.” sitting back down in his desk chair to get fully ready for their little lesson. “do you like my shirt? i got it made with the rest of the boys’ christmas presents. i think i might get one for reggaeton lento and then any other songs we do in the future.” a pause as that thought settles with him. “do you think we’re going to do more songs?”

the first thing mel sees when phil joins the call is a box of jello printed on a shirt, and mel pauses. initially she wants to ask if that’s official merch (and hoping it’s not) but then she remembers the song was leaked, so the chances of them selling jello shirts are slim. and when she sees how happy he is, mel can’t bring herself to do anything other than smile back at him. “you were a real pop star with or without the credit,” she says gently. mel had always had strong feelings about the rhetoric that to be considered a real musician you had to write your music — as if arranging melodies, showing impressive vocal agility and musicality when singing weren’t enough. from what she could see, chip and skip’s ability to write a song comes and goes (and she’d yet to see it in person) but that didn’t change the fact that they were real bonafide pop stars. “a popular star if Twitter is any indication.” the tweets she’d seen about prettyboyz were a little shocking, people latching onto phil as a favorite so early on. but she loved that for him, happy that people seemed to like him and appreciate the positive energy he brought to things. “it’s a cute shirt,” she nods, not really lying or telling the truth. it’s not a shirt she would wear in public but it was cute for him. “if you make a reggaetón lento one do i get one too?” she isn’t really sure if she would really want one — depends on the design — but considering she was on the song, she thinks she should get one. also she just wants to support phil in any way she can. “uh,” mel pauses, readying herself to ask him what their contract entailed but she stops when she realizes phil likely has no idea what he fully signed on for. “i’m pretty sure you guys are supposed to record a whole album, so definitely going to be doing a lot more songs.” hopefully songs better than jello, but she would never say that to him.

[mel-ancholymuse]

mel’s free time is limited -- it has been since the band started, but she makes her peace with the fact that a busy touring schedule takes even more of her time away. but no matter how busy she gets, she can never turn down someone who needs her help in any way. being paired with phil as her dance partner for reggaeton lento had started out as a minor setback but quickly blossomed into a weird kind of maybe friendship. so, she takes her promise to help him out very seriously, and surprisingly phil is keeping up his end of the deal and showing up on time to all their schedule google meets. she doesn’t expect today’s to be any different, especially not with jello being leaked sometime earlier in the day. what would have been an apologetic greeting for anyone else in the prettyboyz turns into an excited congratulatory greeting for phil. as much as mel understands the other boys’ stress with being stuck with such a bad song, she knows phil was so proud of his first real contribution to the group and it’d be such an asshole move not to celebrate that with him. besides, the worst line in the song wasn’t the one phil added, so that was a win in itself. “you’re a songwriter!” mel greets happily applauding phil once he enters the meet. “you contributed more to jello than chip and skip did to reggaeton lento combined. how’s that feel?” @dirtydeville​

[mel-ancholymuse]

dirtydeville​:

at her question, phil shakes his head a little, still not removing his arm from over his eyes to look at her. though it sounded like she had gotten closer, maybe even moved to be right beside him. “chip and i started working out but… it hasn’t been anything like this,” he answers honestly. perhaps the boys had just expected that phil would know what joining the boyband entailed, but if that were the case they had all surely overestimated him and his ability to think things all the way through. because when he had agreed the only thing that had really been on the boy’s mind was the fact that he’d get to hang out with chip more, be paid for doing that, and gain the fame he’s always dreamt about. “i don’t have a solo. i… i don’t even know the words yet.” it’s probably not something he should be admitting, but it’s not like things could get worse than this moment right now? and if it mel was willing to help him dance, maybe she could try to teach him the actual song as well. at her next question, phil finally does drop his hand away from his face and look over at her. “no, i’m an aries.”

it isn’t all that surprising to her that chip was the one who’d offered to help phil in any way. all she knew about the pop star came from her little sister, and teri seemed certain that he was the sweetest thing to ever live -- and the few days they spent together writing reggaeton lento, mel could kind of gather that herself. plus, phil and chip were already friends apparently. or they had a bunny together or something? mel wasn’t entirely sure, just knew that teri had explained it to her once and mel had been more focused on the fact that they named a bunny ears. “that’s alright, i don’t think teri really...thought this through.” though, she can hardly blame teri for creating challenging choreography. it was her job to push them -- and when you’re told a boyband involving chip skylark and skip sparkypants would be performing with you, you just assume everyone can hold their own. “she’s going to rework some things, so it’ll get better.” she hopes. but mel doesn’t dare vocalize that part when she’s trying to lift his spirits. “you don’t know the words?” she shouldn’t be surprised at this point, and yet she finds herself staring at him dubiously. “like at all?” maybe that would be the first thing she helped him with. if there’s a momentary flicker of hope when the boy finally looks over at her, it quickly leaves her when he speaks. “i’m sorry?” she asks, not fully processing what exactly he’s talking about anymore. but as she thinks over what she said and his response, she frowns again. “oh....sweetie, that’s great. not really what i’m talking about, but great.” 

[mel-ancholymuse]

bennyshippe​:

.

he supposes he really didn’t have anything to be sorry for, if he truly thought about it. anyone else in benny’s shoes would have likely responded the same way. would have kept their feelings close to their heart rather than openly showing them after mel shut down so intensely when he had even hinted at there being something deeper than just casual affection towards her. but still, the fact that he now knows things could have been different benny couldn’t help the hint of regret - that more than anything was what he was sorry for. the missed potential opportunity. “well you know now at least.”

taking a mental note of both songs to relisten to them as soon as they’re off the phone, it takes a moment for benny to realize something. “oh,” is all he says as he processes the fact that santa tell me certainly was a new song. one that mel likely wouldn’t have written back when they were together. for all that she had literally just told him that she still loved him, it wasn’t until this exact moment that it fully hits benny that she means it. if she was still writing songs about him even a year after they had broken up… that had to mean something. that right there was physical proof that she did indeed still hold some kind of feelings for him.

“how could you not know it?” he counters with a chuckle of his own. it seemed obvious in benny’s mind that of course he would have been an option for mel. he wasn’t the one that had ended things, after all. in fact he’d done quite the opposite - taking the first step at discussing his feelings should have been a clear sign that he wanted to be with her. “i’ve always been an option for you, mel. i’m still an option.” it’s not something he should be admitting - not while mel still has an entire boyfriend, someone benny’s pretty sure she’s fully committed to. but then again, there wasn’t a single part of this conversation that should be happening. so what was one more confession going to hurt? if they were both letting their truths come out - why stop before it can all be aired?

it shouldn’t mean so much, hearing mel say it again. not after how many times she’s already admitted her love tonight. but it does. the extra addition of infinitely hitting harder than it should. it was going to make the wakeup call of reality so much harder in the morning. going to make whatever fallout might come from this even more painful. “i love you infinitely,” he parrots back, wanting to live in this moment forever. but her earlier yawn finally registers with him and a glance at the clock reminds him just how late it is - both for himself and likely for her as well. and for as much as he wants to stay on the phone with her forever - talking about anything and everything or just sitting in silence together, he knows they can’t do that. “do you need to get to sleep? what time is it there?”

.

“you say it like there were obvious signs i was missing.” mel laughs. she tries to put herself in benny’s shoes here. how could she have known? but he seems so certain that it should have been so obvious and she wants to give him the benefit of the doubt here. or at least try to. “we were broken up for a while,” a year, they were broken up for a year and still foolishly harboring feelings. “and i don’t know i just thought maybe you’d gotten over it pretty quickly.” she shrugs, even if he can’t see her. but how could either of them get over it when they remained active parts of each other’s lives? if mel really thought about it she’d realize that this was their first mistake; clinging to a sense of normalcy that shouldn’t have continued to exist between them after their breakup. but they were friends first, she’d gotten used to having benny in her life, and for someone who could lose most people and feel very little about it she didn’t think she could handle losing benny. “well...that’s good to know.” she answers quietly, small smile touching her features as she lets his words settle in on her. in hindsight, she should stop this conversation right here, remind him (remind them both) that she very much has a boyfriend. and yet, she makes no effort to, just sits here, smiling stupidly to herself like a fool with a school girl crush. 

in sobriety, mel would tense hearing benny say it back with such certainty. hell, in sobriety, mel wouldn’t have said it all in the first place. but where she normally struggles with her feelings or admissions of anyone else’s feelings for her, she instead welcomes it, happy for once to hear such a strong confession -- believing it for once. at the question of what time it is where she is, mel sighs loudly, already knowing full and well that benny would tell her to go to bed. “i don’t know, late.” because she honestly has no damn clue what time it is. but it makes an idea come to her mind immediately. “ohhh it’s probably later where you are.” time zones were honestly kind of a bitch to keep track of, and immediately she finds herself filled with regret. she must have woken him up -- kept him up way later than she should be with conversation they shouldn’t be having. “i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to keep you up.” she apologizes with a frown. “maybe we should both go to sleep. i can call you tomorrow...or you can call me if you want. or neither of us can call each other. i’m...down for whatever you want.” 

[mel-ancholymuse]

hansoftheisles​:

Despite his strong conviction that none of the tension between them now is his fault, there’s no doubt in his mind that he could be handling this better. Talking to Mel almost every single day for the past fifteen years, it should be easier than this. One month of awkward silence shouldn’t be enough to throw him off like this, as though he doesn’t know how to act around her anymore. If this were any other day he knows what he would be doing, lifting her in the air as he spins her around and showers her with compliments, reminding her that she’s undoubtedly the most beautiful woman here. Pulling her out on the dancefloor as the two make the most of an otherwise dull evening. But he can tell that she’s still mad at him, that there’s a distance between them that never existed before, and it feels as though he’s lost his right to do any of that. “Uh, thanks?” Hans frowns, not sure whether he should actually take that as a compliment or not. Choosing to take the high road rather than assume she meant anything buy it, looking down at the outfit he chose with a laugh. “You know I always have to make some sort of statement.” Showing up in something boring has never been his style, always trying to outdo the other men in the room. “Oh, and I just wanted to say thank you,” he adds, smile finally relaxing and turning genuine as he settles on what he believes to be a good ice breaker. “For the birthday present. You really didn’t have to.”

tension is hardly something mel isn’t used to by now. her earliest memory in life being a string of profanities shouted at her mother from a voice that boomed like thunder. so she knows, perhaps better than most would give her credit for, that relationships can fall apart in your hand like paper in water. what she isn’t necessarily prepared for, however, is the way this moment feels. perhaps it was a little delusional on her part to think that they could coast calm waters for the rest of their lives. that she could keep everything she felt for another person so hidden that it wouldn’t dare make a mess of one of the few stable things she’s ever had. but she hadn’t been able to keep those feelings a secret, and because of that she’d failed them and she’d just have to live with that even if she hated how awkward and weird this was. “it was a compliment.” she nods, not bothering to elaborate any further once she takes note of the confusion in his voice. “of course, who would you be if you didn’t show everyone up?” they had, of course, met in band because he insisted on an oboe solo in a piece that certainly didn’t call for it. hell, he’d chosen the oboe because it was difficult. hans had always been something of a glory hog, and mel had always been known to sing him his praises whether he really deserved them or not -- to her, he always deserved it. mel snickers, rolling her eyes at his thank you. “it’s your birthday hans, of course i had to get you a present.” the thought of not giving him his gift was ridiculous, even given the state of their relationship. “but i’m glad you liked it. did you have fun with your friends on your birthday?” she’s caught somewhere between genuinely caring because it’s him, and not wanting to hear all the ways he had fun without her. but if he was willing to tread through calmer waters, she could force herself to as well. 

[mel-ancholymuse]

ladylaylas​:

when there was a knock at the door, layla didn’t know what or who to expect on the other end. all potential guesses would have either just barged in themselves or sent a text beforehand. and it was too late in the night to be a package delivery or anything along those lines. so really, anything was going to be a surprise - but the one person layla never would have even considered to be behind the door was mel. it takes a moment for her to even register that it really is her best friend standing there in front of her. but when she lets out a squeal and wraps her up into a hug, layla lets out a loud open laugh. “you’re here!” she replies, snaking her arms around the other girl to return the hug. “what are you doing here?!” she doesn’t pull away quite yet, almost afraid that if she’s the first to break then mel will just disappear again and be off on the next set of tour.

there are very few people in life that earn any kind of genuine affection from mel, and for as long as she could remember layla hs always been at the top of the list. so when Layla returns the hug mel can’t help but melt into the moment, joy filling her at being able to be reunited with her best friend after so long. she gives Layla a little squeeze before pulling her head back so she can look at her best friend. “it’s the holidays! i had to come see you silly.” the idea of not spending Christmas with Layla just didn’t seem plausible. “we had like a week off before the next leg and staying in the city just...i don’t know, felt kind of empty.” of course, if Mel didn’t have Layla to come back to she probably would have stayed with clio and teri, not wanting to be apart from her younger sisters. “so, i figured we could cheat the system a little and see each other so it’s not like we’re going months apart.”

[mel-ancholymuse]

bennyshippe​:

“is it not?” he questions before he can stop himself, frown deepening as he considers whether or not he’s being unfair here. it doesn’t feel like it. in fact, it almost feels like if anyone was the one acting in the wrong towards the other it would be… her. benny hates the thought and feels guilty for even letting it cross his mind, but it doesn’t seem fair of mel to be upset with him for wanting to talk about it. even if it did ruin the mood. “complicated?” he finishes for her with a nod. “yeah, i… i know.” there’s a pause as he debates saying more, but in all honesty benny doesn’t trust himself to speak right now. not with so many thoughts running through his head - about how long she’s been here, how much of that time was spent with hans, how she’s actively avoided talking to him in general for even longer than just the week back on the island. it’s frustrating, but he knows if it’s this hard on him it has to be at least equally if not twice as complicated for her. so with a small sigh, he musters on a smile and lifts his shoulders in a half shrug. “it is what it is, i guess. it’s fine. i know you need time to figure it out and i… i respect that.”

mel opens her mouth to protest or at the very least defend her sentiment. but she decides against it, realizing that perhaps unfair wasn’t the right word, even if the feeling was correct. “i’ve been trying to figure it out.” she begins, sighing a little as she does so because as much as she hates having to talk about this she does at least owe him some kind of explanation. “bit of an understatement, but yeah.” she nods in agreement, settling on complicated in this instance. chaotic, confusing, disastrous -- that’s what this was. but complicated worked just fine. she will admit however she’s a little surprised that benny’s willing to leave it at just that. surely, he’s got a lot to say -- hans certainly did. and what exactly was the point of ruining the mood by bringing it up without actually talking about it. but she wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “yeah,” she nods, small frown touching her face as she looks at benny and thinks of all the tension they lived in right now. tension she created. “well, there’s nothing to figure out anymore i guess.” she finishes with a bitter laugh, as if this was the first time she’s really thought about the status of her relationship. or rather, former relationship. 

[mel-ancholymuse]

a look into melpomene muse’s insgtagram.| ft. @cutestmuse , @officialcliomuse , @terithemuse , @ladylaylas and @noturnutmeg (and ophelia the cat)

[mel-ancholymuse]

the shift in mood is sobering in a way. once her attention is taken from her dress and placed back on him, eyes taking note of the way his smile from earlier is gone, she frowns. it shouldn’t crush her this much to see him like this, to watch the happiness slip from him as the very real and complicated nature of their relationship weighs on him. but it does crush her, and maybe it’s selfish of her to wish they could go back to a few moments ago where she was in his arms and he was smiling at her, for her, because of her. but mel really doesn’t want to have this conversation right now, or ever. “c’mon,” she begins with a sigh, looking down at her hands as she tries to think of the right way to say this. “that’s not really fair benny.” is all she can find though as she looks back up at him. she knows it’s not fair of her to shut him out and not expect him to have feelings about it, and she’s not even mad that he does have whatever feelings he does about it. she’s not mad at all actually, just struggling under the weight of a problem she created. “you know i wanted to talk to you.” there’s no way he couldn’t know that, not after she told him she loved him. there can’t still be that uncertainty between them...could there? “it was just...” she makes a weak gesture with her hands as if to emphasize how complicated it all was without having to vocalize it.

mel-ancholymuse​:

it’s silly, the way her heart flips in her chest and joy shoots through her when he smiles. giddy — he makes her giddy, and there’s nothing more ridiculous than that, or at least she’d think that when sober. but right now she leans into that moment of glee, giggling when he lifts her off her feet for a quick moment. “i missed you so much.” to anyone looking on this moment should come across as sweet, just two people excited to be reunited, happy and clearly in love. but there’s so much bubbling under the surface, so many things that make even this interaction complicated. or at least it should be complicated, but she’s well on her way to drunk and he doesn’t seem to be behaving rationally either. “that’s so sweet.” she smiles, always finding it sweet that the kids benny works with do little things like that sometimes. “thank you,” she grins, looking down at her dress “yeah! first she wanted to go with white but this just felt so much more like me, you know?” she even twirls around for effect. and she’s not necessarily wrong. the dark fabric of the dress, the exposed torso, the high slit — nothing reflected her more and she was forever grateful that thalia knew her so well. but she could sing her sister’s praises anytime. “how’s your night so far?”

it takes a moment for mel’s words to really sink in - benny’s gut reaction to hearing her say she missed him being elation and his own sense of longing, having missed her these past months as well. but then he realizes partially why that feeling had increased - missing more than just seeing her in person, but also simply just wanting to talk to her in general like they used to be able to. the last few weeks having been practically radio silence despite the move benny had made to try to reopen friendly conversation. so as she twirls and shows off her dress, the grin on benny’s face falters just a bit as a heaviness sinks in his stomach watching her. it wasn’t that mel had done anything wrong, at least not as far as he was concerned, but with their current situation back on the forefront of his mind it was hard to see her so happy and free and here. here on the island - like she had been for the past week without him having any clue. “i’ve been right here, you know,” he says instead of really answering the question - still so focused on her earlier words. his tone lightness that had previously been in his tone shifted to something more serious. “i’ve missed you too. but i’ve always been right here. i - i didn’t go anywhere.” 

[mel-ancholymuse]

with her time on the island limited, mel knew she’d be filling most of her days at the studio. not that this was any different than how mel filled her time. but what’s usually time spent in the studio with her sisters is now replaced with time spent with britney, and something about that was exciting. months ago when britney’s team had reached out with an offer to work on the pop star’s new album, mel was weighted down by nervousness. part of what made working with her sisters easy was the fact that despite their differences they all shared a similar vision; initially mel had no idea what Britney or her team wanted and she’d been so scared of messing up her first real opportunity to work with someone new. over the weeks of google meets and late FaceTime calls, mel had begun to let go of a lot of that fear, building something of a friendship with britney. she was still nervous around Britney’s mom though; and mel doubts that’s ever going to change. waiting for Britney to arrive, mel busies herself with looking through the files Britney’s team sent over, rough cuts of ideas they would want the pop star to sing. being sent an empty demo was a new experience for mel, used to building everything the muses did from the ground up, but filling the song with britney would be the fun part of it — recreating that rough cut into something Britney would want to sing was the challenge. “hey!” mel greets when she hears the door open, turning around in her seat to smile at the girl. “you’re just in time, i was just about to start opening some stuff for a first listen.” @britbritsworld​

[mel-ancholymuse]

ladylaylas​:

letting mel take the lead likely wasn’t the smartest thing layla’s ever done - a fact that she realizes as soon as she sees it’s the bar that they’re heading towards. it doesn’t help when her best friend makes a promise of just one drink - something that layla knows she shouldn’t agree to, fully aware that one drink easily leads to two or three and so on when it comes to mel, but it was new years. and one of the last days she’ll be on the island... so with a sigh, she gives in. “okay - just one drink,” she allows. “but then that’s it and we stay together. neither of us need to deal with any messes tonight.” 

she’s honestly a little surprised when Layla gives in so easily, fully expecting her best friend to put up more of a fight about it. but, she’s not about to start complaining. “it’ll be the weakest thing on the menu.” mel adds to be nice, smiling brightly in a silent thank you. “oh, you mean you don’t want to have a weird run in with your exe again? who would’ve thought.” she teases. it’s rare that layla finds herself in these sorts of awkward situations, so she can’t help but poke fun of this one. but even Layla’s version of mess is lightyears less complicated than mel’s.

[mel-ancholymuse]

hansoftheisles​:

From the moment Mel entered the room she caught his attention, Hans doing his best to keep his distance because that seems to be what she wants. He had the best of intentions to stay away from her all night, but with each drink he finds himself more tempted to approach her, his friends insistence that he behave the only thing keeping him in place. As soon as Candice leaves the table and heads to the bar Hans is standing up, downing his glass of champagne before he crosses the room towards Mel. With Claudette’s words still ringing in his head, encouraging him to at least try and make things better before she goes back on tour, he can’t let the opportunity pass without trying. “Hey,” he smiles softly as he reaches her, hating just how tense and awkward the word sounds. In all the years they’ve known each other it’s never been like this, not even in the strange months after they broke up as they tried to learn how to be around each other again. For the past fifteen years they’ve been each other’s home, and suddenly he finds himself unsure how to talk to her, having little to say as though they were passing strangers. “You look beautiful.” He feels pathetic, unable to come up with anything more interesting to say, but it’s nonetheless true. “Did Thalia make your dress?” // @mel-ancholymuse​

it’d been a surprisingly good night for mel, all things considered. any qualms she had about running into boyfriends (current and exe) had quickly gone out the window as she spent the bulk of her night close to layla’s side. but of course, all that changes the moment she sees hans coming her way. it would be unfair to say that she didn’t want to see him; despite the delicate state of their relationship she was happy he was here and (hopefully) having fun with his friends. all she’d ever wanted was the best for him, even if most of the time what was best for him wasn’t her, so knowing that he was out and not sulking was good. it just didn’t mean she wanted to talk to him, especially not here. “hey,” there’s a moment of relief that the conversation starts out neutrally, even if she wants to cringe at how tense it feels between them. but she can’t fault him for how uncomfortable their current situation is or how poorly he navigates their conversations because of it — she would do worse if in his shoes, she’s sure. “thanks. yeah she did, she spent like the whole week making our dresses. I’ll be sure to tell her you like it.” she nods, small smile touching her face as she looks at him. “you look nice. your suit is fitting,” he would of course opt out of going with a classic black suit, so she’s hardly even surprised. he’d always been an over dramatic attention grabber, but he’d always made it work where others failed tremendously. “pretty sure i saw candice in blue, so i guess she made this for you?”

[mel-ancholymuse]

bennyshippe​:

when she calls out his name, benny can’t help the way his stomach and heart twist a little and the corners of his lips lift up in a smile. one that only grows as she steps out of line from the bar and rushes to wrap her arms around him in a hug. a hug that benny doesn’t hesitate in returning, his own arms coming around her middle as he lifts her off the ground for a moment with a laugh. “you’re here,” he repeats again, right before she fully confirms it. in all honestly, he should be potentially annoyed that mel’s been back on the island for a week now and hasn’t stopped by to see him once - but in the moment he doesn’t even think of that. he’s just too happy to have her here right now to consider the fact that she has likely been actively avoiding him this whole time. glancing down at the tie in her hand briefly before his eyes snap back up to hers, he chuckles once more. “thanks. one of the regular afternoon kids got it for me.” not that benny didn’t own a dozen other space themed ties - but this one in particular was always going to be a favorite now. “you look gorgeous as well. a thalia original, i’m guessing?”

it’s silly, the way her heart flips in her chest and joy shoots through her when he smiles. giddy — he makes her giddy, and there’s nothing more ridiculous than that, or at least she’d think that when sober. but right now she leans into that moment of glee, giggling when he lifts her off her feet for a quick moment. “i missed you so much.” to anyone looking on this moment should come across as sweet, just two people excited to be reunited, happy and clearly in love. but there’s so much bubbling under the surface, so many things that make even this interaction complicated. or at least it should be complicated, but she’s well on her way to drunk and he doesn’t seem to be behaving rationally either. “that’s so sweet.” she smiles, always finding it sweet that the kids benny works with do little things like that sometimes. “thank you,” she grins, looking down at her dress “yeah! first she wanted to go with white but this just felt so much more like me, you know?” she even twirls around for effect. and she’s not necessarily wrong. the dark fabric of the dress, the exposed torso, the high slit — nothing reflected her more and she was forever grateful that thalia knew her so well. but she could sing her sister’s praises anytime. “how’s your night so far?”

[mel-ancholymuse]

mel, despite the underlying stress of potentially running into people she didn’t want to see, was excited about being home for the holidays. it was weird without teri and clio, and mel was slowly realizing that coming to events without them near by wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed. but regardless, she was still excited to see all her other friends. “hey herc,” mel smiles brightly, not even a little caught off guard to see him. layla had already told her about her run in with him — so mel knew it was only a matter of time before their paths crossed as well. “i heard you were back, and i was kinda bummed i didn’t get to see you before we left for tour.” and while she under normal circumstances wouldn’t greet most people with a hug, she feels Herc who’s been gone for years is at least granted a welcome back hug. pulling away from the brief hug she smiles up at him. “how are you? like...Aside from the obvious success.”

hercules had started making his rounds around the room, trying to make conversation with anyone he even remotely recognized. it was clearly what phil wanted him to do. at least, that’s the reason he was giving himself for his mentor ditching him. a genuine smile appeared on his face at the sight of one of the muses, relieved to actually see someone he actually knew. “mel!” he spoke up as he walked towards her, raising his glass in greeting. “long time no see, huh?” @mel-ancholymuse​