“Well… Because alcohol affects how you think and make decisions. Apparently, it's a lot easier to make bad decisions, or even stupid ones, while drinking.” she explained. “It’s supposed to be the law’s way of protecting those who are underaged… Or those who are legally too young to make their own decisions.” she added with a shrug since she was unsure how well that actually worked. Yeah, it did help but only to a certain extent.
Mari shrugged again at the question. “It really depends on what is being fermented. I've really only had a couple of things that were.” she admitted before listing some foods that she knew of. “Wine, which I think is fermented with sugar, tastes good depending on what kind of grapes are used. Umm, sauerkraut is basically fermented cabbage and it's a little sour or tart but it tastes pretty great, especially on sandwiches… and I’ve heard of this one dish called kimchi but it's supposedly a little spicy.”
"So theres laws for young people now…" he murmured, mainly for himself. His knowledge about laws wasnt too great to begin with, limiting just to the main ones connected to crimes, about which he'd read in his books, but other than that, it was new to him. "And they work, dont they? The laws"
Damien mentally noted the two new names he'd heard despite the fact he had no idea how to spell or pronounce them.
"Guess there really is a lot i've missed out there" he dared smile a bit. "Do you often get to eat those two things?"
“Yeah. Sort of. It's hard to always know what are laws and what are guidelines for minors.” she answered. Law was never her strong suit, she only knew most of what she wasn't supposed to do. There were probably a few laws that she wasn't aware of. “They work about as well as any law, I guess. Of course, there are people that when you tell them not to do something, they feel like they have to.” she added with a chuckle as she shook her head.
Marissa smiled a little and nodded. “Yeah… But that's what I'm here to help you with. Getting you caught up with the times.” she encouraged. “I’ve had sauerkraut before. It's pretty popular on hot dogs and Rueben sandwiches. Kimchi… I really haven't had an opportunity to try it. Actually, I did try it once and I didn't care for it. I think it was more sour than spicy.” she shrugged.
"So wait, whats the difference between laws and guidelines?" he jumped in, starting to get confused at all the different terms. For minors? did he even fit under that cathegory at this point?
"But… Why would you do the opposite if someone told you not to do something? I mean, isnt it dangerous to do so?"
As someone who barely dared to do anything, Damien found it very hard to even think about doing something he was forbidden to.
The boy gave a small grateful nod, happy to have someone with the patience to teach him new things. Though, his gratitude soon turned to a slight shock when he heard about the first food.
"Wait, you guys eat dogs?" Damien exclaimed, unable to believe his ears.
She shrugged a little. “Well, guidelines are… more like advice or rules you can bend a little. Laws are much more strict and have serious consequences if they're broken.” she tried to explain in the simplest way she could. Technically Mari thought Damien could pass for a minor, considering how young he looked and how innocent he was… Plus, it was very unlikely that anyone would believe his real age.
“I honestly don't know.” she chuckled. “I guess there's some kind of appeal in it, though I haven't really done anything like that. As to being dangerous… It depends on the situation and what someone is being warned against.” she answered, thinking about all the ‘don’t try this at home’ and ’we are trained professionals’ warnings she had seen. There were a couple of times when she had been tempted to do something but generally, she didn't.
Marissa was more than happy to help explain things to him, even if she struggled with some topics. But if she could at least give him a basic understanding of how the world was now… Plus all his new books.
“Ay, mierda. No!” she exclaimed, in Spanish, her eyes widened at the misunderstanding. Though she could understand how he arrived at that conclusion. “No, no no no no. Hot Dogs are not made out of dogs. They're made of beef. From cows.” she assured him. “They look kinda like sausages though and are really good.”
"I think i get it a little bit… Its still a lot though. How do you manage with all of it?"
It may have not seemed much, but it was getting close to an information overload for Damien. Way too many new things to comprehend, especially when they required a more in depth explanation.
Resigned, Damien just rocked slightly in his seat on the couch. Guess there just were people out there that loved doing things others normally would not or were even forbidden, just like how some characters in his books did.
"But… If they're not made of dogs… Why are they called hot dogs then?" the boy asked, slightly relieved of the news. He was glad no dogs were actually hurt, but he was still slightly unsettled
“I… don't really know. I guess I just grew up with this so I sort of always knew it?” she offered as a possibility, though she wasn't sure herself. “But understanding it even a little is a good thing.” Mari added to be encouraging. Though in her opinion, what she understood about laws was that they were complicated and more than a little confusing.
“Umm, I'm not sure. But I think it started as a joke because there are small long dogs, called dachshunds or Weiner dogs, and I guess people think they look similar.” she explained with a shrug.
"Oh, i guess that would make a lot of sense." he commented, seeing the connection between the dots. Apparently he'd forgotten it was much easier to understand something you grew up with, than something you were told about. "I guess it would be good. I mean, its there to help, right?"
What law wouldnt be there to somehow help someone in some way, right?
"W-weiner dogs? as in, actual real life dogs?" he stammered a little. "I dont think i ever saw one…."
Mari nodded a little, smiling softly at him, glad that he understood her answer. "Yeah. They help but it's hard to understand unless you study law… and I can't imagine going through that. From what I heard it's very difficult." she told him.
"Oh, right. Uhh, hang on." she said before digging out her phone and typing in a search. "Yes, they're real dogs. They're not very big but they're very cute. Here." she smiled, holding the phone for him so he could see the pictures.
Damien could figure that studying law was no easy task, mainly when the person was supposed to know a bunch of laws and how to apply them, if he were to trust the books he'd read - none were about the law, but some did contain characters that worked in the field, so that was his only reference.
"What do you study by the way?" he asked, curious to know what his friend wanted to do in life.
The boy leaned in to look at the picture, marveling at the sight of the black and brown creature displayed on the bright screen. It looked funny, but it looked real enough, so he had to trust Mari's word.
"They're really strange… Cute, yes, but kind of strange. The only dogs i saw were large and with long legs, that would bark loudly if you came close. Do they bite?" he inquired, looking up at the girl. It was starting to get pretty obvious Damien hadn't ever owned a pet, or at the very least a dog in his life.
Mari blinked a little at the question before shrugging briefly. “I’m only in high school. There's not really much to choose from… But I want to study archeology, so I have been focusing on world history mostly.” she admitted with a shy smile.
“Yeah, I guess they are a little strange. Though the strangest dog I’ve ever seen is probably… Oh, I forget what they're called but they're small, like a Chihuahua, and are mostly hairless. Except for some long fur around the face, ears, and, I think, the tail.” she said, trying to describe the unusual dog. “Dachshunds can bite but are usually friendly… once they get used to you. I think they're usually a single-person dog. The dogs you saw… Well, they sound like a lot of dogs people still have. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the kind you're talking about were some kind of hunting dog.”
High school? It was probably some form of higher education, if he were to use his memories, though the name sounded quite strange and he didnt know where to place it exactly on the education ladder - he only knew of the basic school kids went to and academy, used several times by characters in the novels he read.
"What does archeology do?" he inquired, curious about the new domain name. It had something to do with history, he assumed, based on her reply.
"I… i dont know what a chihuahua is… Though by description that dog sounds weird too. Do you have any pictures?"
At this point, pictures helped clear out a lot of his questions, for it spared him from having to imagine said thing - his mind only came up with some really weird things, very far from the truth, so he didnt rely on it that much.
"Hunting dogs… Would make a lot of sense honestly, since they were scary…" he trailed off, slightly frowning
“Archeology is basically the study of ancient history and ancient civilizations.” she explained with a wide eager smile. “You actually get to travel all over the world and literally dig up the past or even pieces of the past where time buried it. There's lost languages you can translate, ways of preserving all kinds of things, and… It’s like a big puzzle trying to figure out what was important to the people who lived there.”
Mari chuckled a little and raised a brow slightly. “Pictures of a Chihuahua or the other dog?” she asked, teasing gently before just searching for pictures of all kinds of different breeds of dogs for Damien to look at and pointed out the pictures of the Chihuahua and the other dog, which was called a Chinese Crested, according to the internet search.
She looked over at him, a little concerned by his tone, and strongly hoped that he hadn't been hurt because of those dogs back then.
Just listening, Damien could almost feel the girl's excitement radiating off her body like a fireplace stuffed with wood. She must've been really passionate about the subject.
"So like, trying to figure out what people way before you were like? That actually sounds pretty cool, i wont lie." he said, increasingly more interested. "What got you into it in the first place?"
"Uh, both would be best i think?" the boy responded, not knowing where to start. Being shown the pictures, he thought the chinese crested was a little odd, like a shaved dog with a wig on, looking less like a dog and more like some sort of strange creature, while the chihuahuas actually looked pretty cute to him, mainly because it looked like what he imagined a dog to be, only much tinier. The snarling pictures however didnt entirely change his perspective on dogs.
"Do you own one?" he asked, gesturing at the animal pictures.
As he was now, it was very hard to determine what Damien's encounter with dogs had been like, but one could only hope it wasnt as bad as it could have been.
"And what else do you have there?" the boy gestured at the bag again, curious to see if there was anything else in there.
“Pretty much.” she nodded with a chuckle. “It… I just love thinking about how life might have been different or even how similar it might have been. Though I have to admit I started liking archeology because of a movie.” she told him a little embarrassed. “I know it was probably exaggerated but it was still very interesting.”
Mari shook her head when he asked if she had a dog. “Unfortunately not. I do like dogs but… It would probably be too hard to pick one. Though my brothers both have a couple of hamsters. George and Merlin. I think they were planning on sneaking them into my bed to scare me… That prank backfired when I picked them up and started playing with the little critters.” she chuckled at the memory.
“Oh, not much.” she told him. “I did bring a stopwatch for when we go outside and practice, as well as a small notepad for the same thing.” she hummed briefly before she perked up a little. “I almost forgot. I also brought a coloring book and some colored pencils for you.”
Now that he thought about it, Damien could understand part of her attitude towards him - he was from a time long before hers, so if she was passionatw about the past, she'd show a degree of it in their interactions. Honestly, it was kind of lovely to know that.
"Well, i do guess one would be curious about life before them, especually so long ago. What movie did you see though?"
"i assume George and Merlin are the hamsters, not your brothers, right?" he momentarily intervened, with a half awkward smile. "Aww, that must have been such a cute scene but uh, hamsters are…?
The boy seemed to perk up in curiosity at the last item, stretching out a little bit to see the said objects.
"What are the book and pencils for?" he asked, tilting his head as he looked at the bag.
She nodded a little. It was true that her interest had played a small part in them meeting but it was more in the style and apparently abandoned state of the house as well as the intrigue when she found the hidden passageways. “The movie was called Indiana Jones. It's an older movie but it's still a classic.” she told him with that small slightly awkward smile she got when talking about stuff like this.
“Yeah, those are the hamsters. My brothers are Cory and Jake.” Mari answered the unasked question she suspected would come up. “Hamsters are cute little animals… about the size of a mouse, actually a little bigger, and they have shorter tails, smaller ears, and slightly longer fur.” she explained, hoping that helped his question.
“Just for fun.” she said as she took out the book and pencils to hand to Damien. “The first half has blank pictures you can fill in, anyway you want to, and the second half is completely blank so you can sketch or draw whatever you want.” she smiled at him.
"Indiana Jones..? thats a nice name, who is he?" he asked, intrigued by the mistery person. Also what exactly qualified as a classic movie?
Her brothers sounded pretty cute, based on their names alone, but he couldnt be sure just yet.
"So… Hamsters are rodent, like mice and rats. What do you do with them?"
Surely, Damien knew what pets were and why people kept them, but hamsters just felt so far away from his concept of a pet.
"Thank you" the boy said slightly hesitantly, accepting the book and pencils. Drawing had been something he didnt try too hard, honestly. He did some doodles every now and then, but never in color.
Damien flipped the book open, inspecting some of the drawings - first, they were so much different than the ones he'd seen before, heavily deformed but in a cute kind of way. He liked it
“He’s a fictional character who is a professor of archeology and quite the adventurer. He finds very rare and valuable artifacts and saves them so they don't fall into the wrong hands. Though that usually involves a fight to keep it that way.” she explained carefully, unsure how much Damien knew about World War Two. That was, honestly, a history lesson she wasn't looking forward to teaching him.
Mari raised a brow at the question and shrugged a little. “You take care of them.” she answered simply. “You have to feed them, clean their cage, and play with them once in a while but they're very cute and fun to watch. Have you ever had a pet before?” she asked, even though she had a hunch of what his answer would be.
“You’re welcome.” she smiled warmly, watching him browse through the pages. She had been a little nervous about what he might think of the cartoony art style or even if he was into drawing but… Well, at least he seemed to like it.
"He sounds so cool… Does he go to many places to find said artifacts? And what does he do with them after?"
The premise sounded like an interesting one, even with the fights and possible dangers - to him, anyone brave enough to take on perils in order to do good was worthy of admiration.
"That's it? Just that? Unusual…" he muttered a little, feeling a little confused as to why would anyone want to do that with so little reward. "I didnt have one, most animals didnt hang around me that much… Especially dogs or cats, they were just scared i think…"
"I'll try them out later, but first, i think we had some testing to do outside first?" he chirped, putting the book aside with a smile.
“He’s very cool.” she nodded, smiling. “Oh, he travels all over the place. Let's see… That I know of, he's been to Egypt, Peru, Nepal, the Amazon, India and Germany. I’m sure he's been to more places though. He already had a very impressive reputation in the movies before the actual adventure started.” she explained.
“Well, for the most part, yeah.” Mari shrugged. “And of course you get attached to them, so it's like having another member of the family. After a while, they start acting affectionate back to you. It's very sweet.” she smiled a little at the memory of the cute little ways pets showed their love for their owners. “Oh… I guess that makes sense.” she commented softly at the realization. She hadn't considered how animals would react to Damien being a half vampire.
She returned his smile a little more eagerly and nodded. “Alright. If you're ready.” she said, grabbing her stopwatch and little notebook.
"So he is like, an important character with lots of knowledge, right? No wonder he inspired you, he sounds like a role model to be fair" he brightened up, wondering if he could ever see this Indiana Jones guy.
"I didnt know rodents could be affectionate towards someone, they usually just run away. But if they do, then it really must be cute. I wish i could see them"
Hamsters werent on his known animal list, but if she told him they were really sweet, he was now very curious to know more.
The boy hopped off the couch before Mari and made a b line towards the door, just beaming with eagerness to go outside. The sky was partially clouded, making it a perfect day for Damien to go outside and enjoy it.
“Yeah, he is. And a lot of what he finds, he usually gives to the museum where a friend of his works. I think the school he teaches at is… affiliated with that museum too.” she said with a small smile, blushing faintly as she remembered and answered his other question. “But yeah, he's a pretty great role model… A bit of a philanderer but other than that, he’s a good guy.” she admitted.
She shrugged a little but nodded. “Well, maybe if you want to… you can come over to my house sometime and see them.” she offered. There was a good chance that mice and small animals hadn't been domesticated before Damien came to this house. “I’m sure my brothers won't mind and I know my parents would like to meet you.” she told him gently, not wanting to scare him or anything.
Mari returned his eager smile as she quickly caught up with him. She was glad that he didn't seem too nervous about testing any abilities he might have. It was understandable if he was a little but it could be distracting if that feeling couldn't be ignored.
"Pardon me, but a museum is…?" he politely interrupted. Unlike the other things before, Damien had a vague idea of what a museum was, but he wanted to be certain, for good measure.
"Well, then i guess you're on a good path if he's your role model. You'll get to see places and learn so much stuff!"
The boy stopped for a few seconds, seemingly analizying his options.
"You… You think it'd be a good idea?"
He honestly would have loved to go to her place, but the thought of a new home, most likely in a populated spot, made him a little unsure. As for meeting her family, he wasnt exactly confident to be around adults, especially more than one - not that he thought they were bad people, he was just scared of the idea.
Together, they made their way to the main hallway entrance of the mansion, where they exited through the main door, exiting in what was once the front garden. Why exit through here? It was a little easier to get there, without having to circle the mansion.
"Sooo…. What do we do now?" he questioned, unsure of what the plan was now.
“Oh, a museum is a big building where a bunch of antiques and treasures are stored and shown off so everyone can see them.” she explained. “There’s all kinds of stuff. Most museums hold historical pieces and others have works of art.”
Mari shrugged a little, seeing that the idea made him uncomfortable. “I don't think it would be a bad idea but it's up to you if you want to go or not.” she assured him. It was likely that her family would have questions for them about their friendship… That would be awkward but maybe it would help Damien’s social skills a little. All the same, she would leave the decision to him.
She looked around the old garden smiling a little at the sight. Even though it probably hadn't been really cared for, it still looked nice. “Well, I guess it depends on what ability you want to test. Though I recommend we start with a simple one.” she suggested.
