June waited in the parking lot at the time specified by Mercury. She sat down on the sidewalk bordering the lot and enjoyed a cool breeze in otherwise warm weather. June listened to the montonous idle conversation of college friends as they strolled passed her, heading to their cars. She wondered, like she had many times before, how she had ever managed to make friends in high school. It was so incredibly difficult now that she was an adult.
She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling tired.
When she opened them, she was staring at Mercury’s boots. She stood up and dusted her clothes off. She just looked at him silently for a moment. His mismatched eyes were still covered by those silly red shades--they were circular and a bright kind of apple red--as outrageous had been the preferred fashion style for the past couple of years.
Mercury was frowning silently. June assumed he was gauging what to say to such a pathetic, obsessive woman. June gave him an awkward smile, unsure what to say. “Why cover your eyes?”
Mercury shrugged. “I don’t like them…”
“I like them.” June said, pursing her lips disappointedly.
Mercury smiled, in disbelief at how much she appeared to like him. He shook his head with a grin. “I know.”
“So… do you have the gene?” June asked.
Mercury scratched his face. Reluctantly he said, “That’s right. Ninety percent chance that it will be triggered.”
“But you’re fine right now…” as far as she could tell, he was normal and healthy. He didn't seem to be behaving like a psychopath, not that she was an expert on such things.
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Yeah. I’m fine, most of the time. I can’t spend much time with people, though. They make me angry.”
June tapped her foot with a frown, wondering how to convince him to go out with her. The compulsion to be with him was an itch she just couldn't scratch. It had wormed its way under her skin and overwhelmed all her other desires. “I want to be your girlfriend.”
“I know you do.” Mercury was perturbed by her bluntness.
“I mean… you seem to be able to control it…” June looked at her feet, twiddling her fingers. "So there's no problem, right?"
Mercury looked at her wrists as she twiddled her fingers, seeing old wounds there. June saw him looking and hid her wrists.
“There's still a problem, but... as of right now, I have complete control of my mind, even if I don’t have control of my body.” Mercury told her—his voice piercing her mind like a bullet.
“What?” June was befuddled by his words and the fact that it felt like his voice had somehow entered her mind.
“Your mind is separate from reality.” Mercury grabbed June’s wrist. “Don’t you think your wrist is only real when you or I touch it?”
“What…?” June repeated. Mercury took off his red shades and he looked straight into her eyes. What he was saying started to make sense and she didn’t know why.
“Don’t you think my eyes are something out of this world? Don’t you think my eyes can perceive something beyond reality?” His eyes blazed into her soul, and her surroundings melted away around her--the cement she was standing on crumbled away into a black chasm, causing her to cling to Mercury in terror. Mercury wasn’t scared at all. The blue sky shattered into tiny pieces of glass that slid into the chasm as well as everything else around them, and soon, everything had melted away except June and Mercury.
June had nothing to say for a moment. She was so stunned that she had no words. Eventually, however, she yelled “I don’t understand! Tell me what’s happening!” June cried with tears in her eyes. “There’s nothing to stand on…”
“Yes there is. You just can’t see it—don’t let go just yet. You’ll die.” Mercury warned her as he felt her grip loosening.
June snapped angrily, “You brought me here with a possibility of my dying?”
“I’m not going to let you die.” Mercury soothed her, stroking her hair compassionately. "Your mind, June… It’s free from the confines of your body. You can see the world however you like, once you figure out your mind is something different from the flesh encasing it--s'omething untouched by the ravages of reality.”
June screwed her eyes shut--baffled by what he was saying and trying to make sense of it in her own mind.
But then, it cocurred to her that this place she was in... was not real. It was something made from Mercury's mind. Perhaps she could use her own mind to conjure a place for her to sit.
But she couldn’t seem to let go of the roadblock that was reality--a reality that had tied her down and kept her miserable for so long. June couldn't even choose what to do in reality half the time. Her addictions took control of her--her own body seemed to act of its own accord half the time--how was she supposed to control her mind enough to conjure a chair for her to sit in? But then, she realized that this place she was in was a realm where she needn't be confined by roadblocks, addictions, and her own body. She let go of Merucry, and was able to stand on thin aire.
In the black space, planets burst into being. They were vibrant spheres; greens, purples, blues, browns... the constrast of the stark brights and darkests darks upon them were captivating. She realized Mercury must have summoned those planets.
Mercury sat down next to her.
“There’s more to us than genes?” June whispered.
“Your genes don’t affect you once you realize your mind is separate from them and you can keep it safe from them” Mercury told her.
“Is reality real at all, then? Are our minds the only real thing?” June thought the prospect was terrifying. Sometimes, she hated reality; sometimes she just wanted it to disappear so she could live at peace by herself with no one to disappoint. But, the prospect of her mind being the only real thing, and being completely isolated, was all the more terrifying.
“It’s real… it’s something all minds can perceive, so it has to be…” Mercury sat cross-legged and leaned forwards on his elbows.
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