Menat yawned and stretched her body, twisting and slithering on the balcony of the building, groaning at how her body creaked in just the right places.
Six hours of predicting fortunes, interpreting images from a crystal, reading tarot cards and whatnot did horrors to her body. How Rose managed to last for eight would be the eighth wonder of the world. How she had the patience for it, would also be one heck of a mystery.
Far too often, Menat found herself a little displeased at people asking if their crushes liked them and what the future held for the relationship instead of just asking their target as a normal person would.
Menat cracked her knuckles, then sat on the bench and pulled out her phone with a little note attached to its cover. The existence of this little note rested in the back of her mind ever since the fair. She hadn't seen Guile since he won the plushie for her nor had she asked Charlie about what they talked about that day.
But then he asked her why kindness hurts. Not if.
Even if that wasn't a surprise to Menat, it piqued her curiosity and worry regardless. It reminded her of herself and how she felt when Rose took her in.
She pushed those thoughts away as she called the number of the note, her heart jumping a bit when someone picked up.
"Hello?" she said, her voice quivering a bit. She could hardly hear Guile over the blood pounding in her ears for the fear that she'd make a fool out of herself. Gosh, she hated phone calls. Talking to people face-to-face was so much easier.
"Oh, it's you. I was wondering when you'd call. By the way, I never got your name," he said. Around him, it was somewhat noisy; no doubt Guile was in a room full of people or just outside it.
"It's Menat! And thank you for the plush!"
He laughed a bit, just as a woman's voice asked who he was talking to. Menat faintly heard a ''honey'' before he spoke again, "Don't mention it. I like to play darts in my spare time. Anyway, how's he doing?"
"I think the conversation was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for him."
"I don't doubt it. Think it did him good, however. But how did he come into your lives anyway?"
Menat began the tale of how she met Charlie and brought him to the Palace of Mysteries, and how she tried to pry him open for information. How they had deeper discussions. How him being dead never quite faced her. How she sometimes slept next to him. The last bit made Guile snort in a way that sent heat to her face. To her, it was just like having a sleepover. But she realized that it came across quite differently for others.
"You sure you aren't his girlfriend?" Guile chuckled.
"Ah-" Menat blushed, then fell silent abruptly.
Curses, she had to get used to everyone teasing her over this again. Just like some had done so when Maggio came to live with her and Rose. If Menat had a coin for every time, some customer, Aprile, or the owners of the winery had asked if she was dating Maggio, she could buy five diamond rings. Not that she needed those; diamonds weren't her thing.
"I'm just joking. Keep watching over him and say hi to him for me, would you?" Guile said that as if he was going to leave forever.
He probably wasn't from around the area but that didn't mean he couldn't come over and say hi himself. What a weird thing to say, Menat thought. She frowned, perplexed at his implications, "Uh you could come to visit instead. It's the Palace of Mysteries so you should find it pretty easily."
There was a pause from Guile as he grunted at the other end, no doubt mulling over being called out like that. In the background, there was another female voice that spoke, saying something about Dad. Guile hushed whoever that was, saying in a low voice that he'd be right back before he answered Menat with a direct; "Right, noted. I'll see you then," and ended the call.
Afterward, Menat sat on the bench, occasionally grazed by the cool early evening wind. Despite the sun traveling undisturbed, it seemed to have gotten colder, telling of a seasonal change. And all the while, she thought of Charlie and how he'd react to this bit of news. Another emotional rollercoaster. What better way to punctuate that than a movie night?
Menat headed inside, free from the cold, and aimed toward her room. She was not a movie enthusiast, but she liked to watch some with the others occasionally. Thus, she had amassed a conservatively sized collection. Rose hated horror movies so no Splatterfield or Garden of Gore.
Menat wasn't a fan of them either but she enjoyed laughing at the bad effects. Ignoring the violent films, she grabbed a random assortment of films and left her bedroom, making her way to Maggio's room. Without knocking, she pushed the door open and stuck her head inside, spotting him on the bed, glaring at her.
"Movie night, take it or leave it!" she hastily said, closing the door before he could hit her with a flying pillow.
She heard it weakly thud on the other side. Next, Menat headed downstairs with her arms filled with DVDs. Halfway down the staircase, she watched Charlie gather the used glasses and empty pitchers with an empty expression on his face, that lit a notch up when she called out to him.
"We're watching movies!" she exclaimed. He stared at her for a moment, then closed his eyes to ruminate on her offer.
The last time, they did this, it had been quite the spectacle. Menat had picked a horror film called Blue Coven and with each scare, Rose groaned in discomfort and disgust, hiding her face in her scarf, fearful in the presence of painted lakes or a time. Next, Menat made her way to the uppermost floor, knocking on Rose's door, and waiting until it opened. She had changed into a red nightgown and a scent of citrus came from her as if she had just been bathing. Her eyes befell the DVDs with pursed lips and a raised brow.
"Oh. For once, you don't intend to torture me."
"Sorry, Master…"
Rose sighed, moving away from the entrance to the door that adjoined her personal living quarters to the common room, opening it to reveal a moderately sized space with a large tv, a wide couch, and a pillow on the floor. Curtains were already drawn so Rose turned on the fairy lights to set things up.
"Did you inform the others?" she asked as Menat dropped the DVDs on the couch.
"Sure did, Master!"
"And forgot to knock," Maggio scowled from the doorway, marching his way to the couch, and looked over the assorted films with a light sneer. Rose looked at him, then moved her gaze to Menat, early exhaustion written all over her face.
"Well, that puts you on snack duty," she pointed at her oldest apprentice before musing over the films as well, picking the one that had the cover of bad softcore porn. To Menat's knowledge, it was just a soap opera drama with dumb twists and contrived writing.
In the kitchen, Menat spotted Charlie again, emptying pitchers and cleaning glasses. He looked at her again as she decided to help out, even if he was almost done.
"Talked to Guile. I hope you're okay with that," she said as she put the last glasses in the cupboards next to the newly washed pitchers before finding a pair of bowls, feeling Charlie's gaze linger on her.
"Do you need my permission for talking with others?" he asked bluntly with a little sarcastic snark. His brand of humor just seemed to be wired that way. He moved a little so Menat could reach the stashed snacks and pour them into the bowls.
"No. But I do think you need to know. I do also think I should tell you he might come over to visit."
"…Okay," he sighed and Menat received what she'd almost call a smile.
"Good! I like it when friends are together!"
Charlie didn't respond to this, just closed his eyes with that ponderous look on his face. He was probably just getting used to the idea of friendships again after so long.
Menat had no time of reference for how long he had been resurrected or living in isolation, but the experience was no doubt harrowing. Never mind death, living like that must have been such a nightmare. She was glad that she was latched onto Charlie in hindsight. She liked having him around. She liked him.
And so, she let her hand brush over his forearm, sliding down, passing over his watch until she ended on his hand and took it, feeling its faint warmth. She lifted it, noticing the stillness of the watch. It was broken but Menat had a feeling, Charlie already knew. She let the matter rest, snatched the snacks, and took him to the common room where Rose and Maggio sat ready.
And from there, the first movie started.
As Menat suspected, it was incredibly, cheesy, sappy, and filled with painfully drawn-out softcore sex scenes. So much, one could infer from the name; Heartbeat Wonders was such a terrible cliché title. Rose was deeply engrossed but everyone else counted the minutes until it was over. As they reached the midway point with the plot of the mother-in-law trying to sabotage the wedding planning, Maggio groaned loudly and crossed his arms.
"Ugh, what a sour bag. I hope she gets hit by a bus," he slumped in his seat, as the mother-in-law burned down the flower shop where the bride-to-be would get her bouquet and pinned it on the family gardener.
The plot only got more convoluted from then on out as the groom was led to believe his lover was dead and decided to pursue someone else, the choice of which made Menat lean forward from the comfort of the pillow, supporting herself on her hands.
"No, don't do that, you dummy! Don't go after her cousin now!" she exclaimed, groaning with disgust when the would-be-widower kissed the shivering woman who had been running around the rain.
Somehow that struck an uncomfortably familiar note with Menat. A feeling she quickly pushed aside when another twist came at the wedding for the groom and his new bride, the cousin of a dead lover, who wasn't dead after all. For movies like these, someone always had to crash the wedding. It also happened to be where the ex-bride revealed the biggest plot twist. She ranted and raved as she walked down the aisle, throwing papers on the floor and spilling the beans.
"Wait, they're siblings?!" Menat inched closer and Maggio nearly fell out of his seat, mirroring the shocked reaction of everyone in the scene. And that ended the movie.
It ended on a cliffhanger.
Menat did not expect much and still, she felt disappointed, inching back to the edge of the couch, leaning against Charlie's knees, "That was…"
"Gross, garbage, grim, ghastly, gruesome, glum, and grisly" Maggio answered, probably running out of words that started with G.
Curious, Menat leaned the back of her head against Charlie's knees, stretching her neck a bit to watch his expression. She smiled when he looked down at her.
"Suffice to say, you're both right," he said and next to him, Rose huffed, folding her arms over her chest, frowning over the lack of appreciation for terrible media.
"Oh, you three. You don't understand art! I liked it! I thought it was a powerful, romantic, and emotional film!"
"Master, you think incest is romantic?" Maggio asked and all eyes fell on Rose. For a moment, she stiffened, then her face turned as red as her nightgown. She cleared her throat and looked away, "That aside, it was a great film!"
"What trash! I hate romance movies," Menat grumbled as she lit the incense sticks, still stuck with the feeling of disappointment, robbed of her time and mood.
Whoever decided Heartbeat Wonders had to be three hours long, needed to be fired from everything.
She puttered around the basement, making sure the windows were opened just slightly so the scent from the incense didn't become choking. Here was dimly lit with the only light source being the white glow from the gaps in the wooden pallets, partly obscured by Charlie's legs as he sat on the mattress. And the green glow of the gem on his forehead. She noted it tended to that at random.
"…Not gonna sleepover?" he asked when Menat turned around, about to leave. She stopped, and paused, feeling her heart race. Why?
"Do you want me to?" she looked at him, her cheeks flushing at her own question and the smile on his face she so seldom saw.
"Has it occurred to you that's the first time you asked permission for that?"
"W-well, I can't help it! I fell asleep and you never said no so…" Menat shuffled on her feet until she felt like facing him again, "But now that I'm here, I propose we do a reading!"
Charlie closed his eyes for a moment with a faint sigh. Despite the mild expression on his face, his voice was as dry and humorless as ever with a slightly sardonic edge, "You spent six hours of doing just that."
"Yeah, but the difference is that you don't have a crush you need to impress instead of just, you know, asking them," Menat said, channeling the mannerisms from some of today's customers while mixing them with her own as she paced back and forth, soothing herself with her theatrics.
"I don't know if he likes me or not. Can you say if he likes me? No, but I can tell you about your future, that's my job. Oh, but does that include liking me? I want a future with him! I don't hecking know, ask!"
By the end of her unleashed rant, she sat on the bed next to Charlie with a deep groan, thinking back to how her patience ran out after the four-hour mark. She wished she could be as patient as Rose. She huffed, leaning back, taking in the scent of the incense, "Now imagine six hours of that, ugh!"
Today had been a long day. Too much of a good thing was also pretty bad. Relaxing for tonight sounded like a better idea anyway, Menat concluded, "You know, on second thought, I'm so tired…"
"I don't suppose men also come in asking their spouses or crushes?" Charlie asked, almost as if he knew the answer to it. No doubt he had been witness to Rose's own rants about people wasting their money and everyone's time by trying to coerce her into dinner dates every now and then.
"Well, they ask more about finances and try to get a date with me. I'm not really in a girlfriend mood with a stranger," she crawled into bed, under the covers, and soon lay with her back against the cool wall, perking her head from underneath the soft blanket.
"One man did give me his number instead. Some rich boy from Spain. Said that my beauty far exceeds my wisdom – whatever the heck that meant. Felt like a backhanded insult."
To this, Charlie raised a brow. It probably sounded ridiculous to him and Menat understood that. She shrugged her shoulders and lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. Soon, the bed began to shift and soon he was lying next to her without his glasses. And then they lay here in silence, not at all close to falling asleep despite the incense. Meanwhile, Menat began to feel a word surface through everything else going on in her mind.
Girlfriend.
Why did that word bounce around like that? Maybe she was just curious. The realm of romance and affection never appealed to her. She had even said so. Probably because Guile kept teasing her about sleeping next to Charlie. It was just like having a sleepover with a friend, nothing less, nothing more. People just loved to overthink it for silly reasons.
Oh drat, she couldn't sleep. She was wide awake, eyes closed shut, all exhaustion leaving her body like a candle being blown out. With the faint feeling that she shouldn't, she opened her eyes and turned her head, looking directly into a pair of solemn blues staring directly back at her, partly illuminated by the gentle glow of the incense sticks.
Reassuring, if not heavily sorrowful.
Filled with emotion, proof that he, despite what he himself said, was not dead. A comforting feeling trickled over her like light drizzle from clouds. She had felt this feeling before, she felt it when she thought of the people in her life. She felt when she reminded herself that she was not alone. Yet with Charlie, it was a notch stronger. Probably because it needed time to age and set it. The soothing feeling of sociability and connection. Friends, togetherness.
Family.