Believing in heroes

After saying goodbye to Drew, Melissa closed the front door of the house and instead of going to the kitchen she goes upstairs and started knocking on what she guesses is the door to Aranea's room. She called out to Aranea as gently as she could, and Melissa sees the door creak open with Aranea peeking at the crack.

"Is there … something you want?" Aranea asked while opening the door to Melissa and standing in front of it.

"Well you see-" Just as Melissa was about to start talking, Finny interrupts her.

"Better save your breath redhead! Aranea and I heard the conversation downstairs." If Finny could spit, he would have on Melissa. "Aranea doesn't plan on leaving the house anymore all thanks to that bastard -so beat it! No need to get chummy with us," Finny adds growing more spiteful.

By this point, Melissa was ready to burn the hat into tinder that she could use for cooking, but instead she lets out a sigh and crossed her arms.

"What do you want?" Melissa asked, but it was such a vague question for both Aranea and Finny that neither could answer.

"Hah? What's that supposed to be, a way to-" This time it's Finny who gets cut off by Melissa.

"I'm not asking you. You probably can't eat anything anyway. What do you want to eat for dinner?" Melissa asked again, clearing things up for Aranea and Finny.

Aranea wants to know why Melissa is in her house, why she's going to make her dinner, and a bunch of other small questions filling her head but all she could let out was a weird voice.

"Aueh?"

"What's that? Never heard of it before. Ask me something else that's … common? I'm not really good with exotic food." Melissa replied with such blatant honesty that Aranea hasn't heard in her life.

The silence continued between the two witches, but this time Melissa isn't as impatient as she was with Andrew. She's waiting for Aranea to leave her shell all on her own, without being coaxed out by someone else.

"A, -Anything. I can eat anything," Aranea answered and then heard Melissa saying okay before leaving.

But before the redhead could, she was stopped by Aranea who left her room.

"I want to know. W, -Why are you doing this?" She asked Melissa who turned to look at her with one of her brows raised.

"Weren't you two eavesdropping on the conversation? 'Cause I was asked." She quickly answered Aranea.

Aranea found it refreshing to be with someone as candid as Melissa, unlike with the people of Aspen who quietly endured her existence and Hagurd who comforts her with lies. Melissa's frankness and straightforward thinking is something Aranea wants to have for herself.

"But … weren't you just asked to watch me? Why would you bother with me?" Aranea said, taking the words right out of Finny who wanted to ask that very question.

Melissa tilted her head to one side and looked at Aranea like she wanted to ask if she's out of it.

"Why? I guess you're right, if I just need to watch you, I don't really need to make you food. I suppose it just felt natural for me to do that."

Melissa started scratching her head and told Aranea to stop with the weird questions as it's embarrassing her. Aranea apologizes but Melissa tells her not to worry about it.

"You're only human. You're allowed to make a few mistakes. Just don't be like me okay?" Melissa giggles and started walking down the stairs again. "I'll start cooking now so, sit tight in your room!"

But Aranea didn't listen. She wanted to help Melissa make dinner or rather she wanted to get to know more about Melissa and wants to be close to her as it reminds Aranea of what she's lost.

Aranea heads down the stairs and as she makes her way to the kitchen, she hears the sound of what she thinks is a wooden board getting pummeled by a hammer, it's the loudest noise she's ever heard come from her kitchen. Peeking from the entrance Aranea sees that the noise was from Melissa cutting potatoes in half with a regular knife without rinsing or peeling the potatoes at all, she's simply just cutting them in half against the now chipped cutting board.

"One of the times I'm glad I don't require sustenance, because there's no way you'd survive eating whatever she's making," Finny blurted out and was shushed by Aranea for the nth time for being rude.

"I think … I'll really need to help her. Melissa, I know you told me to stay put but, is there something I can help with?" Aranea came out of the corner, jolting Melissa out of her focus.

"Y, -Yes?! You really don't have much of a presence, do you?" Melissa laughed nervously as she stabbed the knife down onto the cutting board.

"I get that a lot … so I'm used to it," Aranea replied as she glanced down the chopped potatoes. She wanted to say something about them but Finny beat her to it.

"What're you doing with those poor potatoes? Are you making stamps or something?" The witch's hat burst cackling which was snuffed by Melissa grabbing his conical crown.

"I'm tryin' to make cottage pie. Shut your non-existent hole and-"

"Cottage pie? What's that?" Aranea asked and when she did Melissa's face turned red and lets Finny go.

"Ah- eh- how do I put this? You know it's a hearty meal that you make by putting minced meat and layering mashed potatoes on top of it? Ya know … it's pretty popular in the countryside." Melissa whispered the last bit out since she's too embarrassed to admit she's from the countryside.

"Minced meat, mashed potatoes … ground beef and mashed potato- Oh! You mean a parmentier!" Aranea says, making the divide between her and the country bumpkin Melissa all the wider.

"Y, -Yeah, t, -that's the one! It's just called differently where I'm from!" Melissa replied, laughing nervously. She wanted to put some distance between her and Aranea, but when she moved away Aranea moved closer.

"Is there something I can help you with!?" Melissa asked cheerfully yet still reeling from the embarrassment and it's making Finny chuckle.

"I want to help you make it! I really love parmentiers!" Aranea says pushing herself closer and Melissa now wants to take back what she said earlier.

From having no presence in the room to the only thing Melissa could notice since Aranea, now that Melissa is looking at her closely, has a ridiculously well-developed body under her black cloak -particularly her chest where the buttons on her white blouse were practically doing their best to hold on. Didn't help that she also wore a black underbust-corset which pretty much shows off the disparity between the giving urban life and the modest rural living.

"O, -Okay, you can help. Do you love cottage pies?" Melissa asked handing the knife to Aranea and she started using to peel the potatoes that Melissa had already cut into twos.

"Yeah, I grew up eating it actually!" So did Melissa but why is it that the two of them are so different?

"You're a lot more vocal now, or are you only like this with people you're comfortable with?" Melissa continued to ask Aranea questions when Aranea herself also has things she wants to know about Melissa.

"I can't say for sure … I don't actually know what came over me. I guess, this is what you called natural?" Aranea answered and it made Melissa smile. "You're a witch like me, right? How can you … feel safe out in the world? You could get caught any time and …"

it was impossible for Aranea to continue because she hasn't seen an actual witch trial herself. However, she has seen a witch die and that, along with many other things growing up, has forever scared her into hiding from the world. It's only a few months ago that she started leaving her house in the woods to explore the city.

"I don't really think that I'm safe at all. I mean I did get captured and imprisoned you know," Melissa replied so casually that it intimidated Aranea. But now Aranea knows what Melissa meant by not being like her, still though she looked up to Melissa even more.

"But … I guess" Melissa blushes "I got a hero looking after me, so I do feel safe now," Melissa followed up as she turned to Aranea and smiled.

"Well, unfortunately, heroes in this age are against witches … the normal ones. But I guess there are those types of people. Hmph! Believing in heroes, what're you? A kid?" Finny finally spoke out after his long silence that Melissa really enjoyed and wished that he just kept his mouth shut.

"Whatever. You believe in heroes that'll save everyone right? Aranea?" Melissa nudged Aranea as the two of them continued to make their cottage pie.

"Heroes … I, -I never thought of being saved by one. But you know, I would like to believe in them as you do," Aranea replied with a smile of her own.

Finny was the odd hat out of the conversation as he didn't really believe in all this hero nonsense, but he would empathize with Aranea if she ever comes to believe in this world that's shown nothing but disdain against witches like her.