Lock & Key (Chaelisa)

Still rattled from her meeting with the shaman and feeling dejected over her inability to turn the tide for Roseanne, Lisa lounged on her couch, morosely chipping away at a piece of wood with her penknife.

She wasn't particularly good at carving, but during her time working in taverns at the port back in the city, she had come across sailors from all walks of life. Many of them were a dab hand at carving, picking up pieces of whalebone or driftwood and whittling away skilfully until they had dainty little ships or sea creatures in their hands.

She had always wanted to try and it was also a good method to doze off eventually. But thoughts were buzzing too loud and not even her attempts at carving could make her tire.

Her conversation with the shaman kept replaying in her head, especially with how much he seemed to know about her.

But how could he know? Was all his voodoo mumbo jumbo actually real? Lisa didn't count herself a believer in most of the things he spouted but now...she was decidedly unsettled.

Forgive yourself, the shaman had said.

For loving, he had said.

What was that supposed to mean?

But deep down, she had the uneasy feeling that it had a lot to do with—

Lisa was startled out of her thoughts by a sharp rapping on her door. She wondered who it could be stopping by. She never had visitors.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door was Roseanne's hair gleaming golden in the dying afternoon light.

"Hello Lisa," Roseanne smiled and Lisa felt her insides melting. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but she was leaning towards good.

"H-Hello."

"I didn't interrupt you or anything, did I?"

"Oh no no I wasn't doing anything um...I haven't seen you around lately..."

Lisa wanted to slap herself, but Roseanne didn't seem bothered by her observation.

"Oh yes, I was sick for a few days. Nothing major, I'm fine now."

"Ah, I'm glad." Lisa recovered enough of her wits to notice they were both still loitering on her porch. "Sorry, excuse my manners. Do you want to come in or..."

"Oh no don't worry, I just stopped by to thank you personally, for saving my cat. She's on the mend and will be up and running soon," Roseanne said pleasantly. Her smile fell slightly. "I never thought they'd go that far..."

Unable to bear seeing Roseanne sad in any capacity, Lisa quickly changed the subject. "Well, I'm glad I decided to look for her. We usually have lunch together, at a tree. And she didn't show up so...I investigated."

"Ah yes, the pine tree close to Snowdrop, right?" Roseanne nodded.

"How do you know? Did Jisoo tell you?"

Roseanne winked. "My cat did, actually."

"Oh...you talk to your cat?" Lisa asked doubtfully.

"Why yes. She tells me all that she has been up to during the day. She enjoys your company a lot."

"Ah...well, I'm glad to hear. Um...does she have a name by any chance?"

"A name...hmm," Roseanne hummed before she grinned at Lisa. "You know, I think she likes Honey now, so I'll go with that."

Lisa couldn't help but feel pleased that Roseanne liked the name. "Well, I'm glad to be of any service. I consider Honey to be a friend and I promise to look out for her in the future."