Mari was a little concerned when he seemed to deflate but she smiled as she joined him on the couch, pulling her bag into her lap. Her smile grew when she noticed him looking at the bag. She couldn't wait to show him. ”Yeah, I can understand that. I've never actually been alone that long but I can understand the sudden shift from silence.”
”Don’t be sorry. It wasn't your fault.” she reminded him. ”If anything you really helped me out when you let me stay. I got in trouble because I didn't let my parents know sooner… and for going for a run in a rainstorm.” she admitted with a small chuckle.
”You know that you can hug me if you want to. I don't mind. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable.” she assured him gently. ”I’m used to it.”
He played a little with the large sleeves of his sweater, twisting them around before looking at her again.
"Its very weird, i can tell you that" he said, before his eyes were drawn back towards the bag. He could barely contain his curiosity, because they were new things, and new stuff was so hard to come by.
"But still… " he attempted to raise the subject again before deciding it was perhaps for the best to just leave it as it was. She did specify multiple times it was not his fault. "You're welcome then, i suppose… im glad i was able to help to some degree"
Damien looked at her with his green gaze, as if wanting to say something but stopping himself at the last second. He'd only hugged two people in his entire life, so doing it again with someone new made him feel a bit odd - sure, he loved to do it with people he cared for, but Mari had been in his life for just a day.
"I'll… keep that in mind. Thank you"
She smiled again and nodded sympathetically. Having two younger brothers kept the quiet to a minimum most days, but fortunately, her parents where able to handle the twins so it wasn't always loud. ”I’m sure it is.”
Mari raised a brow when he started to apologize again but smiled as he seemed to accept the fact that he really wasn't at fault. ”You really did. If you hadn't let me stay and I had gone home in that storm, I most likely would have gotten lost and be sick right now.” she explained.
She looked at him curiously when he started to say something but changed his mind. ”No rush. I'm not going to pressure you.” she assured him with a gentle smile as she absent-mindedly fiddled with her bag.
He nodded slowly, looking down and playing with his sleeves.
"Sick and lost really doesnt sound like something good…" he admitted, thinking at all the possible options of where his new friend could have been had she not stayed there with him. "Im glad we mananged to avoid that, i really am. Cuz that way i also got to meet you…. And we became f-friends…."
"Thanks" he smiled lightly, happy that he was being allowed to get attached at his own pace. Maybe one day he could bring himself to hug her without any inhibitions.
"So… What do you have there?" he finally asked, unable to contain his curiosity anymore
Mari couldn't help but chuckle softly and shake her head at his innocent statement. ”It really isn't. I’m glad we avoided that too since it's not exactly something I want to experience.” she agreed, smiling gently.
”De nada, chamaco.” she assured him, forgetting that he might not understand Spanish. Her smile grew excitedly when he asked about his surprise. ”Oh, I brought them for you.” she said, opening the bag to show him. ”My history books, as promised, a local map book as well as a world map, and a cd player.” she explained, pulling out the folded-up map and cd player for him. ”I also brought a couple of classic albums for you to listen to.”
"Mn, im glad too…" he agreed, thinking back on the previous night, revisiting the first moments he had with her. In doing so, he reminded himself that he was a bit hungry, and a small snack would not be bad at all.
Her words confused him, as he did not know the language, like she'd guessed.
"Uh, what does that mean?" he asked, curiously, though his gaze had already moved towards the bag again, captivated by its contents. He instantly went for the books, opening them and flipping through the pages, stopping at the first picture he came across. With his lifestyle, he was used to the books having few to no pictures at all, and those that had, were usually drawings made in ink; seeing a modern picture for the first time was stunning, because it resembled nothing he knew until now, especially since it was a picture of a real place, not a drawing.
He didnt yet inquire about the photos however, as he redirected his attention to the CD-player. Unlike books with real pictures, this one was 100% foreign to him.
"How does it work?"
Mari smiled a little, blushing faintly at his question. ”Uhh, it means ”you’re welcome” in Spanish. Sorry. I tend to slip into that language on occasion.” she explained, watching him as he started looking at the books. She wanted to be as fluent as possible and usually took as many opportunities to practice as she could. She had even been considering going to Mexico for a trip at some point.
“It plays music.” she told him, opening the small device. ”You just pick an album that you want to hear, put the disk right here, close the lid, and hit play.” she explained as she went through the motions to show him. ”Oh, and you'll need to put the headphones on.” she pointed out handing him the older model of headphones, the ones that go over your ears rather than inside.
"Ah, no, its fine" he reasurred her. "Its just, i never heard of that language before. I've only ever encountered other english speakers, but i did find some books in other languages down in the library. Cant say which ones those are but definitely not Spanish"
Damien watched curiously her every move, trying to make sense of the strange device. He'd rarely heard music before, only performed by some musicians for hire that he'd seen in his days outside, but other than that, he was used to just the chirp of birds.
"How does it do that tho?" he inquired as he shyly accepted the headphones, while paying attention to the way Mari handled the disk - she was holding it in a certain way so he assumed it was supposed to be held like that.
"How can these small 'disks' make music? is it some kind of magic, like the one your phone did?"
He'd gotten very curious about the contraption, partially because it reminded him of the girl's phone from the other day, and how it was able to show moving images all on its own.
”Oh. Okay, then.” she nodded a little. ”Is… Is English the only language you know?” she asked, just to make sure. She didn't want to assume anything.
Mari bit her lip to keep from laughing, though a smile was still visible, as she shook her head. ”No. It's not magic. It's technology… Science.” she told him. ”It’s similar to a record player or a phonograph. I think there might be something about those in the history books. Back then, sound was recorded on a material called vinyl using a needle. And you could play it back using… a horn, I think. Like the bell of a trumpet.” she tried to explain, though she didn't really know much more beyond that.
"In speaking, yes. Reading wise, i'd have to see some books in the library to check the names, tho i think i know about 3" he responded, counting them down on his fingers.
"Oh, i see. Though that phonograph thing looks nothing like this thing" Damien observed, pointing at the cd player. Tho im assuming its because things changed so much over the years, no?"***
She smiled at him, impressed by that skill. ”That’s amazing! Honestly, reading a different language is the hard part for me. I can read Spanish but I always have some trouble translating.” she clarified.
”Yes. Things have changed… A lot really.” Mari nodded. ”The phonograph was just the first version. The more time went by, the more advanced technology became. Most people just have their music on their phones now but before that was possible, the CD player was the best way to do that.” she told him.
Mari paused for a moment before letting out a small groan. ”I almost forgot…” she said as she reached into her bag again. ”I brought back your umbrella too. And a modern cookbook. I thought you might like to try some of them out.”
He smiled a little in return before averting his gaze downwards.
"All i know i learned from the books ive read, i cant speak a single word, to be fair" he admitted, playing with his sleeves.
He examined the cd player carefully, trying not to drop it by accident. It was very new to him and didnt really know how to handle it without the fear he might break something accidentally.
How exactly does one have music in their phone? This device needs disks to work, but your phone is much smaller than it. No way a disk can fit inside that"
"Ah, you shouldnt have…" he spoke gently, receiving the umbrella. But Damien's reluctancy all evaporated when she whipped out the cookbook - now that had peaked his interest.
”That’s still very cool.” she smiled at him, giving his shoulder a friendly gentle bump with her own.
She hummed a little and shook her head. ”No, the disks don't go into the phones. It's from internet access. You can download stuff, like music, to a computer and transfer it or purchase certain things directly to your phone.” she tried to explain, but feeling like she was failing. ”A lot of stuff can be done using computers or phones now.” Mari ended a little lamely. Maybe she could try to show him… in a little bit.
”Hey, I told you that I would bring it back.” she chuckled lightly. Her smile grew when she saw his reaction to the cookbook before handing it over to him. ”It’s got some pretty basic recipes but if you want to make any of them I can get you whatever you don't have.” she offered.
The boy's lips extended into a shy smile as he was being praised. He didnt flinch when she lightly bumped into him with her shoulder. The gesture was small enough for Damien to see it as friendly, so he rolled with it calmly.
"The internet… Whats that?" he asked, trying to make some sense of her words; though he understood the logic in her arguments, he didnt fully grasp the whole thing. Like he understood that the gramophone was probably the ancestor of the objects he was looking at now, but how exactly it functioned, he had no idea. Guess he really did miss out on a lot of things while he was living alone.
The umbrella was put aside, hanging by the back rest of the couch while Damien focused his whole attention on the book. He carefully but happily flipped through the pages, once again looking at some of the pictures he found. They all looked like the real thing, and that only perplexed the boy further as he could not touch them.
"Wow… Thank you very much!" he smiled at her whole heartedly, joyful of all the new things he'd been brought. It truly was a wonderful gift.
Searching each and every page, he didnt recognize a lot of the dishes presented there, therefore he pointed them out to Mari.
She blushed a little when she realized her action. She had completely forgotten that he wasn't ready for a lot of physical contact yet… But he didn't seem to mind. Maybe it was small enough to be ok this time.
“Oh, boy…” she muttered as she tried to figure out how to explain what the Internet is. ”Umm, the internet is what allows us to look up all kinds of information on our phones and computers. You can put pictures, music, and facts or opinions on the internet and everyone can see them.” she told him as best she could.
The smile he gave her made her heart feel like it was about to burst at seeing how much he enjoyed the book. ”You’re welcome.” she smiled back, taking the time to answer his questions on the recipes he asked about to the best of her ability.
Without having seen it himself, Damien could make little sense of what Mari told him. He had already been extremely sheltered back in his time, so no wonder he didnt comprehend most stuff from the modern age.
"Hmmm… So, its this thing that allows something to be public, sort of like a library where everyone can borrow stuff from, but its not just books, its anything and everything?" he attempted to summarize the whole thing as best he could. ***"And it works from that tiny device of yours? Wow"
Out of all the book, several recipes attracted the boy's attention, four of them being desserts - pictures apparently played a very big role in his decisions, given until now he could only read about food and imagine its taste/appearance. Thing was, out of all the ingredient list, he was missing more than half actually, most being stuff like spices or specific things one wouldnt normally own in a home.
”Yeah. That's pretty much it.” she said, nodding a little. She really couldn't think of any other way to explain it. Even though it didn't really from her phone, just with it… Though she wasn't sure how to clarify how that worked so Mari decided to leave it alone for now.
”What do you think?” she asked, when he came to the dessert section. ”Do you like your new cookbook?” she smiled at him.
Satisfied his comparison hit pretty close to home, Damien considered it a victory and rolled with it. At the very least he was one step closer to learning more about the new world outside of the mansion walls.
"Mhm! I love it!" he chirped, more than happy with the new cookbook. "Its just that some things mentioned here dont sound familiar at all to me, like some of these ingredients and tools. Like, what's a blender?"
Mari was caught between amusement at his question and embarrassment that she forgot he didn't have some of the kitchen supplies that she considered to be a household standard. ”A blender is usually an electric… pitcher with a motor and a couple of small blades inside to mix and chop foods quickly.” she told him, hopeful that he would be able to understand. Though she figured she’d have to explain electricity pretty soon.
"That sounds kinda cool actually. And does it work with absolutely anything you put in it?" he asked, finding the said contraption kinda interesting in a way despite having no idea what it looked like. Most of the time he did all the cooking by hand, so having something that did some of the work for him sounded intriguing.
With the cookbook still on his lap, Damien peeked over at the bag Mari brought, wondering what else was left in it that she brought along
“Food wise, yes. But don’t put anything metal, wood, or generally inedible in it.” she warned, even though he didn't own one… yet. Then again she wasn't even sure if this old house had electricity. ”Oh, and absolutely never put your hand in there. It's a pretty powerful little machine.”
Mari followed his gaze back to her bag and smirked. The bag was mostly empty except for one more thing. Something that she couldn't imagine any kid growing up not trying at least once. She reached in and pulled out a small mix bag of candy. It was one of those little bags that had a couple of each kind of candy and chocolate, similar to what you would buy for Halloween. She smiled at him and placed the bag on top of his book.
"I see." he nodded, processing her information. "So its a device meant for food only, right? Cuz the whole metal, wood thing would be sorta silly. Also, no hands in it, gotcha"
If it had blades that moved really fast, Damien understood enough to know things could go south really fast and last time he checked, he didnt perform too well when it came to lacerations of any kind, therefore, he would keep the warning in mind.
He studied the bag a little bit, admiring the brightly colored packaging before lightly touching it with one finger.
"What's this?" the boy asked, turning the package on all its sides
”Yeah, that's right.” she smiled. Last thing she wanted was for her newest friend to get hurt by something modern. She would honestly feel like it was her fault for not preparing him better.
Mari chuckled a little when he poked the plastic bag. ”It’s candy. Open it.” she encouraged him. ”Actually, a variety pack of popular candies and chocolates. Each one is individually wrapped. Just I wouldn't recommend eating all of them in one sitting.”
"But uh, just how big is it? Would it fit something like a cabbage in it? Or is it used just for some types of food only?" he probed, after reading some more lines in the cookbook and finding it was mentioned alongside fruit and relatively small sized items, usually cut down into pieces.
Damien fiddled with the bag for a little, trying to figure out a way to find it - he'd never seen a plastic bag such as this, therefore he wasnt sure how he should handle it. In the end, with a little bit of help, he pried open the bag and carefully grabbed one of the candy inside, bringing it to eye level.
"Is this what sweets look like now?" he asked, once again, trying to figure out how to unwrap the piece of chocolate.
Having learned from his previous attempt, he quickly claimed his sweet prize and reluctantly took a bite out of it, to try it out
"Wow, its so sweet!" he exclaimed after a few moments, eating the rest of the candy. "What do you call this?"
She shrugged a little. ”It varies in size. If you were to put a cabbage in it, it would have to be cut… at least in fourths.” she suggested. ”And the same with fruits. They don't have to be cut that small but, depending on what you're making, you should usually peel them and remove the seeds.”
Mari should have realized that even the bags would be different from what he was used to. For crying out loud, they definitely didn't have vacuum sealing hundreds of years ago. She gently showed him the little ”trick” to opening it. ”Yeah. Most candies do. There are some differences but for the most part…” she nodded.
”Chocolate.” she smiled, looking at the wrapper. ”That particular piece is called a Tootsie Roll. As you can tell, it's very soft but a lot of people like it.”
