To Demetrius, from Penny

Penny was washing dishes when the trailer door opened. Penny could tell it was Maru by the sound her heavy boots made on the elevated floor. Without a word, Maru grabbed the dish towel from the door handle of the fridge and started drying.

"Thanks! It's hard to run a household all by yourself."

"I should build you a robot, Penny."

"I'd be okay with just a dishwasher, honestly." Penny dropped a handful of silverware on Maru's outstretched towel.

After a little bit of chit chat about Maru's ideas for robots, and what Vincent might like for a Winter Star gift, they had finished the dishes.

"Wanna watch some TV?" Maru asked.

"Sure! Exploring Exploding is on public access. You've watched that before, right?"

"Oh, yeah, the one with the nerdy professor from Zuzu University who blows all that stuff up? I've seen an episode of that."

Penny turned on the TV. "Last Thursday, he mixed iridium into C4 and blew a crater into the ground! The desk and the container he used were completely vaporized, I'm pretty sure the glass just melted. It was so awesome!"

"Nice! I hope we get to see something like that today!"

"Oh, we will." Penny paused for a second. "Hey, what do you think your dad would like for a Winter Star gift?"

"Oh, Yoba…" Maru looked up, as if to search her brain. "Food. Bean hotpots, ice cream, rice pudding...he loves strawberries, but maybe a strawberry plant would be better than, like, one individual strawberry." She laughed. "How about a book on how to understand women?"

"If I could afford a book, I'd get him one."

Maru looked puzzled.

"You remember when the furnace went out? I spent my entire month's pay on a new one."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah. Mom didn't have any money that first week. She told me to pay for it and said she'd pay me back. The week after, Gus made her pay her tab at the saloon. Now she's saying that bus ticket sales have been low so she's not making as much…" Penny sighed. "I've pretty much written off Winter's pay as a loss."

"Well, why don't you cook something for my dad?"

"I'm not a good cook. I wish I was, but everything I try to cook comes out burned and it all tastes funny."

"Everything?"

"Yes! I can kind of understand when I burn recipes that I try to make up by myself, but even following a Queen of Sauce recipe to the letter, I burn it! And everything I put in that oven tastes bad!"

"It almost sounds like the problem is your oven, not your cooking. Lemme try something. I'll preheat it to exactly 400 degrees."

"How will you know when that happens? The light never goes off."

"Huh! That alone is very helpful, thank you!"

So began a long day of working on the oven. Maru figured out pretty quickly that the thermostat was broken. She also found what appeared to be a handle of Joja Vodka melted to the lower heating element, which would explain the funny taste.

While Maru was working, Penny went over to the farmer's house. She offered a couple hours of work for some green beans or some rice. The farmer told her to go into the greenhouse and take what she needed. When she tried to leave with just a handful of green beans, the farmer loaded her up with veggies, fruit, eggs, jelly, and fish.

Penny lugged her heavy bags of food to the trailer. She opened the door and found Maru inside her oven, clanking around and cursing Yoba. "This is more like working on an old car than a kitchen appliance," she said, "I'm gonna have to take 20 showers when I get home…"

"Maru? Is everything okay?"

"As okay as it can be when I'm in a decrepit old oven," she said. She scooted out. She was completely covered in dirt and grease. "I'm gonna have to put industrial degreaser in my hair. This is like working on a car engine, but everything I need to mess with is above me so it all gets on me!"

"I'm sorry...you don't have to do this."

"Oh, it's done now, I just have to put the oven back together. Besides, you told me that you have no money, so I want you to have a working oven. That way, you'll be able to forage and cook root veggies, and you can fish, so you won't have to eat frozen dinners all the time."

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." Penny opened the fridge. "The farmer gave me a bunch of produce and fish because I harvested everything in the greenhouse. Being able to cook this stuff in a working oven will make things easier. The Queen of Sauce doesn't tell us how to make her dishes in the microwave!"

Maru looked in the bags. "Nice! There are some great looking green beans in here. Have you ever tried to make Bean Hotpot?"

"No, I haven't. I usually just buy them canned and stick them in the microwave."

Maru's face lit up. "Oh, you're gonna love this!" She scurried back into the oven with a screwdriver. "Fresh green beans are so much better, and this hotpot is a great way to show them off. I put in a new lower heating element and a new thermostat, so the oven should actually heat up to the temperature you want and the food should taste good." She banged around in the oven, awkwardly installing a large metal piece. "I can probably come by tomorrow after work and show you how to make it."

"Awesome!"

Maru wiggled herself out of the oven and slammed the door. "Done." She leaned against the oven door.

Penny poured her a cup of water. "You alright?"

Maru chugged the entire cup of water. "Yeah. Just dirty and thirsty." She handed the cup to Penny, who refilled it and handed it back. "Thanks."

"Do you want to use my shower?"

"YES." Maru made a beeline for the bathroom, chugging water. "Wait, my hair!" She ran back to the toolbox and pulled out a tub of heavy duty mechanics' cleaner. "I was serious about this." With that, she ran back to the bathroom.

"Wait!" Penny followed her into the bathroom and reached under the sink, way in the back. "Use some of my deep conditioner, too." She pulled out a pink bottle. "I can imagine your hair will need moisture after you use that heavy duty soap."

"Are you sure?"

"You just spent all day fixing my oven knowing I can't pay you. You can use the whole bottle if you need to!"

On the day of the Feast, Penny had a spring in her step and a Bean Hotpot in her hands. She could feel the heat of the pan through her mittens. She knew the recipe was good; Maru had shown her how to make it once, and she'd made this one exactly the same way. She went right over to Maru's table and set the Bean Hotpot down in front of Demetrius.

"Surprise! Happy Feasting!"

"Penny! You're giving this to me? This is amazing! You're my secret friend?"

"Yes I am. But you'll have to thank your daughter for this, too."

"What do you mean?"

"She spent all day over at the trailer the other day, fixing my oven so I could make this."

"She told me about that! Not the Bean Hotpot part, but she told me she fixed your oven. While you were at the farm, I took her to the hardware store so she could get a new heating element. We spent the whole time we were there talking about where to find gross bugs, I guess Maru made a little book for Vincent about the Valley's invertebrate life. Anyway, I really appreciate this, Penny!"

"Thank you. I'm just glad Maru was able to help."

"She's a good egg. And so are you, Penny."