"Oh, Yohei — good evening."
"Good evening, Elder."
The sun was just going down, the first dark of evening pressing in at the edges of the sky. I'd come to the village elder's house. Melanie answered almost immediately after I knocked. She was still in the same clothes as earlier.
"Come in, come in."
"Right — thank you."
I followed her inside. The room had a moderate amount of decoration — small ornaments here and there, tapestries and tasteful figurines on the walls. Not luxurious exactly; it felt more like a room shaped by years of personal taste. Warm, and lived-in.
"Over here, please."
I sat in the indicated chair. On the other side of the table was something like a large cushion, and Melanie settled onto it.
"About earlier—"
I wasn't sure how to ease into it, so I went straight to the point.
"My, my — you've brought a gift?"
Her eyes moved to the bag in my hands.
I opened it and took out the wooden box.
"I thought you might be able to use it for storage, if you'd like…"
It had looked decent enough when I'd finished it — achievement doing its usual work of flattering your own output. Seeing it now in her home, the roughness of the craftsmanship was harder to ignore. The wood itself was quality material and gave it a presentable look, but against the quiet elegance of the elder's house, it felt a little out of place.
"Oh! A handmade wooden box? Thank you so much."
Melanie was more pleased than I'd expected. She might have been being kind, but either way, something in my chest unclenched.
"And this as well."
I produced the pincushion. Cotton wrapped in fabric, cut and sewn into shape — nothing more than that. The finish wasn't anything to be proud of, but it held needles, which was the point. I'd cut the bottom fabric into a petal shape so you could tell which end was up. Something that simple had taken several hours of trial and error to get right.
"What a sweet little thing — this is handmade too?"
"Yes. You stick your needles into it to keep them in place."
I gave a quick explanation of how it worked, and Melanie looked at it with what seemed like genuine interest.
…I found out later that she already owned a needle holder of some kind, but apparently a design meant to double as a decorative piece wasn't common, and that was what had delighted her most.
"How clever. Did someone tell you about my hobbies?"
More or less, I said. Something in Melanie's expression softened.
"I really didn't expect to receive something this thoughtful. Thank you, Yohei."
She said a moment, please, and moved toward the back of the house. When she returned, she was carrying the Adventurer's Clothes, neatly folded.
"I would have wrapped it properly if you'd given me a little more time — but please, take this."
Wrapping would have been entirely unnecessary. I bowed my head and accepted the clothes.
"Oh — if you haven't eaten yet, would you like to stay for dinner?"
I was still feeling a little embarrassed about the whole thing, but I didn't want to turn down her hospitality.
It had nothing to do with the fact that she was beautiful. That played no part in it whatsoever.
"Are you sure? Then I'd be happy to, if it's no trouble…"
At that, Melanie smiled, and said, "Wonderful. Give me just a little time to prepare."
I had a generous dinner, made my way back to Teok's house afterward, and was promptly teased about the whole thing.