The "walk' from Simon's home to Melody's home had gone well for Lucy and Jeff, particularly as the two of them had worked out some understanding on their mission and that Lucy could understand that Jeff wasn't going to force anything on Melody or anything like that. To some degree, Lucy was surprised by all the feelings that she'd had since meeting Melody. A part of her figured she should be suspicious of Melody, simply because of the Chapman Family's interactions with Megan and Jenny. This was especially true after Simon and Jenny admitted that Jenny was a member of the colony, who like Melody had some interest and curiosity about human society outside the Slug Person colony and got caught by Cupple alone somewhere. But yet, Melody had also seemed quite honest and openly hostile toward Cupple and that was enough to leave Lucy feeling some measure of interest in Melody.
They came into the house and Melody held the door open as they entered onto a hardwood floor and noted a decor that wasn't too different from what Jeff and Lucy would expect from a middle-class family like the one they had grown up in. At times it was still something that amazed Jeff, as before all of this started, he really didn't pay much attention to things related to Slug People at all. He knew some of the basics, but not much beyond that and to a degree, Lucy knew a bit more on them, but he had the sense that most of what Lucy knew was more in relation to the civil rights arguments that had gone on over the years regarding how Slug People and Humanity got along. The magical wards seemed to prevent open violence and outright persecution, but that hadn't meant there were not major restrictions.
"We can start with getting some dinner ready," Melody spoke, "if you two haven't eaten since breakfast... you must be starving."
Twin gurgles from Lucy and Jeff's stomachs seemed to answer almost as if on cue. They gave uneasy smiles at that as they watched Melody smile with one eye and then begin to lead them from the entry area and through a small living room to a doorway that lead into a kitchen. Jeff could see white cabinets through that doorway, though as he and Lucy followed Melody through her living room, they found the walls of that room had some pictures and paintings there on the wall. They were behind what looked like glass or plastic shields, which would probably be there to protect the artwork from the corrosive nature of a Slug Person's slime.
"You have a lot of art," Lucy said slowly, some of her thoughts going back to her own art studies and wondering how things would fare now that she was generating a slime that might corrode most of the mediums used.
"Not a lot... and most of it isn't expensive or highly desired art," Melody admitted, turning one eye back to Lucy and Jeff while keeping the other eye focused on the route to the kitchen, "but a lot of it represents a lot of the things that I've always admired and been curious about in human society."
"You're curious about human society?" Jeff wondered as he looked around the room and continued following Melody into the kitchen.
The kitchen was fairly modest, no bigger than the Chapman family kitchen was back home. The cabinets were painted white with a sink underneath a window by the outside wall. There was a tall refrigerator that Lucy's tail brushed against for a moment as the two of them settled into a spot where they figured they'd be out of Melody's way while she cooked. There counter and cabinets ran in a sort of U like formation along the north, west, and south walls with the sink under the window on the west wall, a stove resting in the counter on the north side and then a single oven on the south side. The appliances had a grey to black coloration and looked pretty simple, though Melody had also seemed to decorate it with some small photos of herself, her father, and including one that had Melody and Jenny seated together in a park outside the Slug Person colony.
"To some degree... many Slug People are curious about human society," Melody answered, "particularly when humans don't believe in magic so much anymore. It's something where they do some very interesting things and don't get hung up on the fact that Slug People were created by witches and warlocks to essentially be sentient familiars. Thus, people don't mindlessly fear us."
"But don't Slug People produce similar things?" Lucy wondered.
"In many ways... yes, but they may often be different than what humans produce," Melody answered, "our art and music can be different, often because we've had to find things that our slime won't corrode. And that often effects on what we can work on in ways that interact with humanity in terms of jobs and so on. So... our races are so similar yet different that there are things that are just difficult to easily compare for what they do and how they function, and some of that also relates to our culture as well. We aren't a people that disregards individual Slug People... but because of our hive mind and the fact that we didn't naturally evolve, we do tend to focus on a more communal effort, mostly because of how most human laws often restricted our movement and everything else. It's not until the twentieth century that we even got the sort of rights in this country that most humans have taken for granted."
"Sorry," Jeff blurted, feeling a bit guilty over things. Lucy said the same thing a moment or two later.
"Neither of you was at fault, and the fact that we didn't evolve naturally would be bound to create a real feeling of an "other" among human thoughts toward Slug People," Melody said with some acceptance as she then moved to collect some things for dinner. She'd need a larger serving size with Jeff and Lucy present, "and things are better now and allows for some curiosity to go on between humans and Slug People. It's something that brought Jenny and I together in the past, as we were both curious to see things about humanity... and to a degree... what made her... us... vulnerable to someone like Cupple."
Lucy watched as Melody pulled out a ham from her fridge. It was a leftover of some kind, but it was fairly big as it sat in a large metal tray. It was likely some set of leftovers from some larger meal, though Lucy wasn't going to complain. They watched as Melody continued about setting up things to cook, which included setting down a cutting board, retrieved from one of the cabinets and set on the counter beside the tray holding the ham. Lucy felt a small bit of guilt seem to radiate off of Melody, and the part of her that was interested in Melody, for reasons Lucy couldn't fully understand felt the urge to comfort the other Slug Woman.
"We don't hold you responsible for Jenny... or Cupple," Lucy spoke quickly and then elbowed Jeff.
"Yes... and if we can defeat Cupple, possibly breaking his control over Megan and Jenny, we wouldn't truly blame them either," Jeff added after catching Lucy's elbow in his back.
"I'm sure..." Melody admitted, "but that doesn't change the fact that some of that put Jenny in a position where Cupple could take advantage of her."
"And if we stop Cupple, we'll save her," Lucy offered, "the rest shouldn't be used as an excuse to just not try new things and enjoy the things you like and love. If that's part of you... NOTHING should ever let you hinder that."
Melody looked to Lucy and blinked before a small smile came to her lips as she looked to Lucy. It warmed a part of her heart, even as she focused on slicing the ham that would then go into the stove to warm up while she settled on getting some potatoes ready as well.
"Thank you, Lucy," Melody smiled, "hopefully... when Cupple is gone and his immediate threat isn't there, I can continue to look more into the wonders humanity has made... perhaps with new friends."
Lucy smiled at that mention.