The smell of pancakes, offered one of the more pleasant wake up calls Maya had had in what felt like an age. It was probably helped along by the gentle sunlight shining on the end of her bed, and the fact that had slept beautifully. She sat up, did the most cliche stretch imaginable and slumped. Noises from downstairs indicated that she was not the only one awake. That should have been obvious by the sweet aromas drifting into the room, but it was the noises that prompted Maya out of bed.
As she left the room, Maya glanced her bag straps poking out from under the table. She paused for second, then turned and left it where it was. Creaking floorboards and stairs announced her arrival, and Piv called out from the kitchen before Maya had even made it to the living room. “There’s a glass of juice on the table in there for you, the pancakes will be ready soon.” Maya grinned as she ducked through the doorway, seeing the glass left for her. Piv appeared at the arch to the kitchen with a plate in hands, “It’s been a while since I’ve made these, but I figured we could both use a treat. Eat, and then maybe you’d like to wash? Streams are great for a Togi, but I know the Misvan’s tend to like a hot bath, maybe Terran’s are the same?”
Maya’s grin probably said all that was needed, but the emphatic nodding certainly removed all doubt. She accepted the plate and cutlery, and sat in the same chair as the night before. This mornings fire, was smaller, and slightly less intense, but offered the same feeling of comfort. Maya tucked straight in to the breakfast provided, hardly pausing for air as she stuffed syrup covered pancakes into her mouth. The pancakes themselves were much the same as those from home. The syrup however had a banana kind of flavour to it, but not proper bananas, more like that fake banana flavour from milkshakes and foam sweets. It was delicious.
By the time Piv came in with a plate for himself, Maya had demolished hers entirely. He smiled at the cleared plate and perched on his cushion. “The bathroom is just through though the kitchen. I made the executive decision to fill it this morning, its probably still too hot, but you can add some cold to get it were you want it. Valar left out a new bar of soap.”
“Thank you” Maya swallowed the last drops of what she had discovered to be apple juice, and stood. “Erm, I don’t have any other clothes.”
“Yes, Valar said something about finding you something to wear, but for now you’ll need to just stick with what you’ve got.” Piv shrugged and took another bite.
Clean in dirty clothes, would still be better than dirty in dirty clothes, so Maya took her plate and glass out to the kitchen and looked around for the bathroom. Two small doors lead out of the kitchen at either end. The first, Maya found to be an incredibly well stocked pantry, full of food either wrapped in cloths or sealed in jars. The second led to the expected bathroom. The bath tub sat over doused coals that still steamed very slightly, and was filled most of the way with bubbly water. She dipped her hand in to test the heat, only to find Piv’s warning of the it to be an understatement. Twisting the tap, Maya let a torrent of cold into the bath and set to preparing herself.
When ready, Maya stepped in hesitantly and lowered herself slowly to seated. A wave of bliss shuddered through as the heat forcibly relaxed her muscles. Without even scrubbing Maya felt the grime of nearly two weeks fall from her skin. After a short while the heat became too much and Maya let in a little more cold and began to actually wash. The soap smelled almost of tar, again not unpleasant, but notable. It did its job perfectly and Maya was left feeling renewed. When she finally emerged from the bathroom, Piv had cleared the kitchen and was sat by the fire, reading.
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He turned suddenly, clearly startled by Maya’s return. She glanced the book he was reading, but couldn’t make out any of the words, “What’s that?” Piv half closed it, to reveal the title, as if it would make any difference. Maya’s blank expression quickly helped him realise. “Its an old book of Valar’s, she thought it might be worth a look. It’s sort of fables, kind of like a book of legend. I’ve found hazemakers referred to. It’s not exactly instructional, but maybe there is something in here that can help?”
“That’d be great, Maybe it could te-“
Maya was interrupted by noises from the hall. The front door opened and slammed closed before a familiar voice came through, “Come and help me with these bags kid!” Maya jumped, then without thought did as she was told. Valar stood in the hall drenched, apparently it was raining. Maya rushed to relieve her of two large bags that barely fit through the hallway. She dragged them into the other room, as Valar took off her boots and coat. The two bags were filled with clothes and a small amount of groceries.
“That’s for you, got em from the Markson’s. Their daughter has just got married, and she left this lot at home. Might fit, might not, but it’ll be cleaner than those rags, and you’ll fit in better. There’s a head scarf too, so you can hide the pink hair.” Maya looked over the clothes, “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me, thank scruff face, he’ll be paying for it.” She turned her attentions to Piv. “The Markson’s need a nest clearing out of their chimney and the grate replacing. It’d take me twice as long as it’ll take you, so I took the pleasure saying you’d be along later to sort them out.” She smirked at Piv, who rolled his eyes and nodded. “Good morning to you too Valar, in Moen, I assume?”
“It’s Spanner and, no. Just round the corner. No rush now though.” Valar glanced at the book, “Find anything?”
Piv shook his head, “I am not calling you Spanner. Anyway not really, found a few hazemakers, and it describes a couple of hazes for dramatic effect. But we already know the porting ones are blue. I did find a green one mentioned that works a bit like a translator charm, but better.”
Maya piped up, “Piv, you said you thought green ones made people stronger. Maybe I’ve got both of those?” Piv sat up straighter,
“Oh yes, although with out testing them, we wouldn’t know which one was which. And anyway, colour is just a loose thing. There could be dozens, all with similar colours. We need to find a way to read the caps.”
As they were talking, Valar made her way into the kitchen. “You scholars want a brew?” Piv and Maya both accepted the offer. “Kid, why don’t you go and get changed into something from the bags, you’ve clearly washed, might as well stay clean. Lay em all out on the bed and see if there’s anything that fits. Give Meliopivandrous a chance to study the texts a little more.”
“Meli-Meliopivandrous?!”
Piv glared at Valar, who stared straight back in challenge. “If I can’t have Spanner, you can’t have Piv. Do we understand each other?”
“But mine is a simple shortening! Yours is just stupid.”
Maya giggled as she climbed the stairs, struggling with the bags. The lighthearted bickering continued in a distant grumbling as Maya dumped the contents of the bag onto the bed. Although fairly well worn, the clothes were in great condition and covered pretty much all the basics. She quickly found the head scarf that Valar had mentioned, and tried it on. After a bit of faff, Maya managed to contain the pink hair that was to cause so much of a problem, and glanced the mirror. It didn’t look to bad actually, almost a white and grey sort of paisley pattern, but not quite. It suited her though.
Maya turned her attention back to the rest of the pile. Of particular note were the dresses. Three sundresses of a similar style stood out. The first was a light green colour, with four pockets. Four pockets. The second a floral pattern, that looked a little bit like Gran’s old curtains, but kind of pulled it off. The third, and by far the cutest was a dark blue with light blue trim. This one only had two pockets, but it was still more pockets that she had learnt to expect, and to be fair she only had two hands, so it was perfect really.
Maya quickly changed. She found a cute pair of white slip ons to match the scarf, and tried them on. Maybe a little too loose, but they worked too well with the outfit not to keep them on. Happy with her luck, Maya grabbed her grandpa’s bag and headed back downstairs.