The Mysterious Rattle 06 (Patreon)

 Original Idea: Sophiie93

Copy Editor: Angela

James and Melany walked into the kitchen which was cleaner than James had ever remembered. “Wow, you did all this? Melany you don’t have to try so hard.”

Melany smiled happily. “It’s the least I could do” she said. “You let me stay here and fed me. You really saved me!”

James noticed that one of Melany’s heads was looking at him while the other looked at the room around them. He wondered how her body worked, if she really could see from two different perspectives at once. But before he got too lost in thought, he had a small realization. “Gah food! I haven’t prepared anything to eat. Sorry!” He walked over to the fridge and looked for something fast and easy to prepare.

“You don’t need to…” Melany said. “Here, let me cook something for you. You must be tired from work.”

James sighed a bit seeing the determination in Melany’s eyes. “OK, but make yourself something too, alright? You aren’t my maid.”

Melany smiled and with a look of confident determination started rooting through James’s fridge and pantry. James just sat at the dining room waiting for whatever surprise meal was coming his way. He did notice a few advantages Melany’s body gave her, though. Her many hands allowed her to perform many tasks at once and she seemed to be able to focus on at least two things at the same time.

Melany was obviously going a bit overboard. She was preparing a few steaks with carrots and potatoes, when James was just going to look for something to microwave. In no time, dishes were standing in front of him, as Melany’s many hands sat down cutlery, drinks, and napkins. 

“Wow…” James said with a little laugh. “All those arms must help you get things done quickly.”

Melany smiled. “They do, but you haven’t seen anything yet.”

James’s mind wandered to a place more sexual than he would have liked at that statement, but luckily the smell of steak brought him back. After all, a delicious steak is almost as good as sex, depending on who you ask.

James took a bite of his steak and the meat melted in his mouth. “This is amazing! How did you become such a good cook?” He fully expected a train wreck of a meal considering he found her barely living off scraps.

“Well, it’s been a long time since I cooked a proper meal, but my mom taught me how to cook as a child. I guess it just sticks with you. I hope you like it!”

James laughed again, his mouth full of succulent meat. “Are you kidding me? You are a much better cook than I am. Having you here is a godsend!”

The two of them laughed and enjoyed their dinner over some pleasant conversation. James told Melany all about his job as a programmer, where he works, what his workplace was like. Melany was very interested, asking about his co-workers, his boss, and more. James gave Melany his phone so she could see the pictures he took at the workplace. She saw random pictures of office birthdays, goofing off in the break room, and group pictures when his projects were done. Melany had a big smile on her face, until she came to one photo.

“Who is this girl?” she said.

“Oh that, that’s Caroline” James said. He noticed that she was staring at her intently in the photo, almost how he stares at Melany now. He never could get his wandering gaze under control. “She’s just a good friend” he said embarrassed.

Melany’s eyes narrowed. “You like her… right?” both of her heads asked in a creepy judging manner. James stumbled over his words a bit but couldn’t deny his feelings under the gaze of Melany’s stern eyes. 

“Yes… yes I suppose I do” he said. The room got very silent and for a long time neither of them touched their food. “Are you… OK?” James eventually built up the nerve to ask.

Melany raised both faces, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Yes, don’t worry.” She was still speaking with both heads at the same time. She got up from the table and began putting away the leftovers and doing the dishes. 

James tried to help, but Melany’s six arms easily did most of the work. He basically just stood there, awkwardly watching Melany do his chores. He had to think of anything to break the awkwardness. “Oh uh…. By the way we are going to have to buy you some new clothes!” he said. “There’s a mutant store at the mall. I’ve never been there but we could probably pick up something.”

Melany stopped and looked at him with both heads again. “That’s OK. I don’t need a lot of clothes, especially if I don’t leave the house.” There was still a sad look on both of her faces. 

James raised his hands and patted her heads. He had hoped that she would have responded as she did a few days back, with trust, and happiness. Instead she just gave him a dull look back. 

“Look, you won’t be here forever. Getting some new clothes will help you get back out into the world. Come on, we can get you anything you like.”

“Anything I like?” she said with a harsh tone to her voice. “Like, something that would make me look at pretty as Caroline? I guess a store for mutants wouldn’t sell something like that… huh?”

James blinked a bit. It was clear Melany was hurting. She didn’t have a lot of confidence in her body and seeing Caroline must have hit a raw nerve and brought up some bad feelings. “Are you… jealous?” James asked.

“No!” Melany shouted, the beginnings of soft tears in her angry eyes. “I just want to look pretty too OK? I want someone to look at me like… Like I’m not…”

James signed. “Melany, I don’t get it. Caroline’s a grow woman and you are still young. If you got clothes like her you’d look old. You probably don’t want that”

Melany’s voice raised to a shout. “James!” she exclaimed with both heads, eyes narrowed at James’s own. “How old is Caroline?”

“Uhm… twenty four? Like me?” James took a step back “Why are you getting so-“

“And how old am I?” Melany barked.

“Uhm… your-“

“I’m twenty!” Melany said, cutting him off before he could answer. “I’m twenty years old! I told you yesterday when I told you how old I was when I mutated. I’m not a little girl!” One of her heads stuck out a forked tongue at him while the other gritted its teeth. She angrily finished the dishes and started stomping off toward the bedroom.

James was shocked. He had always considered Melany a little girl that needed help, needed protecting. But he couldn’t be more wrong. She was a fully grown woman, and he was treating her like a pet project. It wasn’t fair. He tried to come up with something to say but he just couldn’t get his words straight. Instead he blurted out “Melany, you have… forked tongues?”

“Yuuup!” Melany said with a scowl. “Maybe one day you’ll look at me the same way you do my mutations!” And with that, she slammed the door, locking James out.