Marlisa followed the taller man back to his apartment building silently. She couldn't help but believe that this day would turn out quite interesting. The brown haired female smirked at the prospect of spending the day with an older, more enlightened mind. If she had to judge Melchior simply by how he was with her the other day down by the river, she would have to say that he was a man who lived the way he wanted to live his life. Not the way that would be most convenient for him. That was one thing the two would have in common.

The male glanced back at her occasionally, making sure she was not lost in the small crowd. He couldn't help but be a little weary of the young girl. He couldn't deny that she was pretty, and the men in this part of town usually jumped at the chance of speaking to pretty young girls like her. The brown haired man caught a drunk eying up the younger girl, he reached back for her wrist and pulled her closer.

The female was taken off guard by this action and opened her mouth to yell. He gave her a pleading look, hoping she wouldn't, for then things would look very bad on his part. What would they all think, an 17 year old boy pulling a small, frail 16 year old female behind him? He was pretty sure she was a virgin and betrothed to someone, like much of the other girls in this town. Melchior would be locked up, for he doubted this girl would take the time to say anything in his defense. He did not know much about Marlisa, nor did he care to know all that much.

The last time he got involved with a female in a romantic relationship things did not end well for her. Her story ended by her pretty little face being covered with dirt. He would never forgive himself for letting her be alone for so long. He could never bring himself to think of another girl the same way he thought of Wendla.

"Marlisa, we are not in the best of company at the current moment." He whispered into her ear. He took a breath in, inhaling her strangely intoxicating scent. "I think it would be best if we were to link arms or hold hands. The last thing I want is you being lost to the perverts of the city."

She was obviously embarrassed by his words, but she gripped his hand in hers. Marlisa did not really trust Melchior, but she supposed it would be better to be taken advantage of by him then to be used by one of the old drunks. Marlisa shook her head at the thought of a forty year old drunk taking her virginity.

"Fine, I shall humor you Mr. Gabor. But I will let you know, this is only for my own sake that I am doing you the honor of holding you hand. I do not do this with others, for I believe that the expectations that society has of a male and female who are courting is utterly ridiculous. I personally believe that how this droll place describes 'courting' is ridiculous."

The male smiled a little at her words. Although he knew they were intended to make him feel like a mindless fool, he found it all very amusing. She seemed a lot like how he was two years ago, how he still is now.

"Well, Miss Yuselt you seem to have a lot to say for someone so small." The girl narrowed her eyes at his comment.

"Unfortunately for you Mr. Gabor size has nothing to do with ones intellect. I know this because if it did you would be a genius, which I am sorry to inform you, you are not." The female added on a small grin hoping it would cause the words to wound his pride even more, but again Melchior was amused.

"You are a very blunt woman; many people must loathe you for that." He said as they walked up the stairs to his apartment. Marlisa followed cautiously and nodded, agreeing with his last statement.

"Yes, many do not approve of my manner of speech or action, but that does not concern me much. For I, unlike many of my piers, do not care how others view the way I live my life. They simply are disagreeing because it is not in the 'norm', but really now Melchior I can't help but think more about that. If we were all to live our lives the way everyone expected, then we would not ever have any new inventions. Or no new revolutions, logically, if we all lived how we were supposed to we would all still be trapped in the dark, droll stone age. Though I must say, this age that we inhabit now is not much better." Marlisa curtly retracted her hand from Melchior and took a seat down on one of the wooden chairs located at the table.

"You are very wise for your age Marlisa, 16 am I correct?" Melchior inquired. The girl nodded and placed her satchel down on the floor. "You speak well beyond you years, unfortunately wisdom such as yours is not very well appreciated by the outside world. Those streets are full of fools who believe whatever is fed to them, just to make there life a little easier to live. I find it to be a rather sad existence, which was why I stopped living up to societies expectations for me and decided to live up to my own expectations. I find myself to be a lot happier this way."

"Where did you come from?" Marlisa asked bluntly, she had to admit; now she was rather curious of this new male. He seemed so scholarly, and not at all afraid to voice his true opinion. Not, at all like Merdardus. But, different was not always better. She would not throw away her affections for Merdardus so quickly, especially not for a man whom she had only just met.

This question struck a cord with Melchior; he left his town wanting to leave everything there in the past. Now this girl, this incredibly witty girl wished him to dig up everything that he had tried so hard to bury? He would not dig it up, not for her. He would allow all of that to remain buried just like Mortiz just like Wendla. He wasn't about to go back and dig there corpse up was he? The why should he dig up all the memories of them?

"I come from a small town of little interest." He said to the female brusquely. It was transparently obvious that Melchior had a problem with talking about his past. Marlisa sighed, admitting defeat. She was not one to pester, but she knew she would find out everything eventually. She always did.

"Well that sounds utterly tedious!" The girl said laughing a little. He allowed a small smile to cross his lips. "Though, it is probably the reason you are so insightful today, is it not?"

He shrugged a bit at her question knowing full well she was right. He began to read all those materials simply because he was bored. He thought that if had lived in a larger town like this he would not have felt inclined to begin his research in the field that many had placed there taboo's in.

"I suppose,:

"Aye, I have the same reasons for starting too… Well…. Almost… But I do not care to speak about that at the current moment. You know Melchior I had the most… amazing dream last night." The female smiled hoping he would be one fellow she would be able to discus this with.

"Oh. Do go on." He said with a smirk. The girl bit her lips for a moment before continuing on with her dream. She felt he would be able to handle any detail so she did not leave any of it out. She examined his expression as they spoke and saw he would sometimes grin at her statements. It was a little confusing to her why he would do that, but she did not question it.

"Well, of course it isn't the first time I had a dream like that. But I find it odd to dream about such things as I have never experienced any of that before. I have yet to be kissed upon the cheek by a male other then my brother or father."

"Well those dreams are simply a way of telling you that your body wants…. Your body needs to give into those passionate scenes. You are probably having dreams like that because you've never even been kissed on the cheek by a male. You're probably curious to what it feels like?" He inquired. Marlisa rose and eyebrow and sighed.

"I doubt the lips of another upon my flesh feel much different then the lips of my father or brother. Though, I know I long for the feelings to differ." The female closed her eyes as she felt an annoying fluttering in her stomach.

"You amuse me Marlisa." He said as he leaned towards her and silently pressed his lips to her cheek. The female immediately felt her pale face flush red. She was wrong; it definitely was a very different feeling. Not the actually kiss, or maybe it was how the kiss was executed. There had to be a damn good reason where her body would react to his kiss so enthusiastically. She felt it longing for more; she wanted him to touch her as the male had been touching her in the dream. This, of course, was a feeling she did not act upon. Instead she covered her cheek and smiled a little. "You truly amuse me, in a very good way might I add."

Melchior was cursing himself for his words and actions. He wanted so badly not to get involved with her at all, but he found it ridiculously hard not to. Hell, it took so much determination for him not to kiss her lips. He knew that would've caused an awful reaction as apposed to this one. Marlisa's opinions were different but she was no slut. He could tell that she would not appreciate any further actions taken on his part.

The hours flew by, they ate breakfast and lunch, they discussed many different issues and Marlisa believed they could now call each other a friend. It was very odd, for the longest time her only friend had been Merdardus, but now she had Melchior too. Merdardus and Melchior, complete opposites, but still she felt as though she could be completely open with either of them.

"Thanks for today, I will be seeing you tomorrow at the river, correct?" She inquired. Melchior nodded, causing a smile to spread across her lips. "Good, you just gave me incentive to get me through the day. Good Bye Melchior." She said beginning to walk back down the stairs.

"Good bye, Marlisa." He said silently