“She did not want to stay with me,” is all he said, and she got the impression he wouldn’t say anything more about it.
“Why is it that you cut the carrots like that? The other humans made them thinner.”
She paused as she stared down at the thick slices of carrots she’d been cutting. “I guess it’s because I like them to be firmer in the middle. I kind of enjoy the taste of raw carrot.”
“Hmm. They have different tastes when cooked and not cooked? I thought it was only to change their firmness.”
Reia laughed. “I’m guessing you’ve never eaten a vegetable in your life, but no, cooking them changes the way some vegetables taste. It’s not only about how firm they are, but it also changes the textures. Cooking them in a pan without water also changes the taste, but I prefer to have soups and stews if I don’t have meat.”
He brought a hand up to cup the side of his snout in thought. “You will make different food to what you’ve been making now if you have meat?”
“Of course. I can make much more. If I had flour, I could make bread, and with honey I could bake sweets.”
“I don’t know what those ingredients are.”
Once she was done cutting the vegetables, she began to finely chop the other herbs she’d asked for.
“Well, flour comes from wheat, and honey come from bees.”
“What are bees?”
Reia turned, frowning up as she faced him.
“You don’t know what a bee is? It’s a flying insect that’s fuzzy with yellow and black stripes.”
His head tilted, making that slight rattling sound like his skull was filled with tiny bones.
“You are talking of those stinging bugs.” His mouth opened and closed slightly as his tongue moved to lick at the top of his mouth. “They hurt my tongue. Why would you add them to food? They don’t particularly taste good.”
Reia covered her mouth as a laughed escaped her by accident. His eyes flared into a pale red to show he was angry at her laughing at him, or at least annoyed.
“We don’t eat them, Orpheus. They live in a beehive and collect pollen, so they turn it into honey inside their nests.”
His orbs changed to blue once more, and he turned his face towards the darkening outside just beyond the window.
“Would it please you if I brought you a hive so you could you get honey? There are some just outside the Veil.
Demons don’t like them because they sting when attacked.”
A trickle of tenderness warmed her chest.
“Yes, it would.”
A loud crack of thunder boomed before the first signs of rain pattered in heavy drops against the window.
“Then I will bear being stung to get you honey.” Orpheus took a step back. “I will have to learn how to cook another time. I must go outside to keep the Demons away.”
“All you would have needed to do now was crush the tomatoes until they were like a paste, and add everything, including some salt, into the water until they were soft.”
A spark of yellow flashed through his eyes. “Thank you.”
He left to go outside, and Reia continued to cook her early dinner until it was ready. By the time it was, the rain outside was heavy and loud, showering the house with a downpour.
When she peeked through the window, the clouds were so dark that it already appeared like night had arrived, even though that was still an hour away.
It was a violent storm with lots of quick strikes of hot yellow forking across the sky.
Reia placed her bowl of soup onto the table, but she didn’t sit down. Instead, she walked to the front door and opened it, peeking her head outside.
She waited until Orpheus could be seen, since he must have been walking around the house, and called out to him.
He headed straight for her.
“You should be inside.”
“Can I watch you and the rain?” She pointed to the trinkets hanging from each corner of the porch roof. “They
will protect me, and I’m wearing the amulet. I’ll even bring the sword with me.”
“But a Demon might run at the barrier while I’m on the other side of the house. There are many around after what happened the other day.”
“So?” she snorted. “It’s not like I’m afraid of them. It’s kind of funny when they hurt themselves trying to get through the salt circle. I’m sure watching them do the same thing to the house will be just as funny.”
“You are a strange human, Reia.” However, he paused for a long time, and she could tell he was thinking about it deeply. “As long as you keep the door open so you can flee inside, and make sure you call for me if one is able to get through, and that you will run first before you try to fight it, and—”
“Yes, okay, I got it.” Reia rolled her eyes with a shake of her head, feeling the teardrop jewel on her forehead swaying. “Make sure I don’t let myself come to harm.”
He nodded, and she turned back inside. Grabbing the dining chair, she dragged it outside and placed it directly next to the open door. She sat cross-legged while holding her bowl of soup, eyeing the sword that rested up against one of her legs for close keeping, before she turned her gaze upwards to the eerie forest.
