A magical purr-dicament

Curiosity Makes a Cat

So, as to recap the story so far, Grant has arrived in Pikoro at the Wishing Well (a name which I should have mentioned last chapter, but oh well), meeting up with Melanie as the two began their job for the summer upon Lucinda's exit. Notably, Melanie mentioned the basement, which she states Lucinda is letting them have special access to for the summer; though neither of them chose to look into it, instead choosing to put on a film and chill out to relax after a somewhat frantic first shift before heading to bed to get some much-needed shuteye. Now, a new day is upon our duo of protagonists, and with the store closed for the day, this gives the duo more time to, well, do whatever.

[Melanie]: Prepared to start the new day, they would eagerly get up, stretch and get dressed into a more casual outfit before heading out, knocking on the door to guest room, of which Grant would be only just getting out of bed "Good morning Grant! How's it going?"

[Grant]: He would be relatively tired, almost as if he just woke up from a weird and abrupt-ending dream "I'm fine, I just had a pretty weird dream about the basement... and something strange happened to you... I can't recall much though for some reason..."

[Melanie]: They would raise one of their eyebrows, tilting their head as one of their ears would flop to one side "Mhm...?" They would shrug it off soon after, a more supportive and cheery expression appearing on their face, unaware of what'll happen later on "Don't worry though; it should be ok! I mean, what are the odds that it's gonna genuinely happen?"

[Grant]: He would nod and shrug in response "Hmm, that's true. I suppose we'll be ok, in that case!" He would head down to grab his breakfast as Melanie would do the same, as Grant would grab a bacon toastie before sitting with them "So, what's the plan of action for today?"

[Melanie]: "Hehe, well, given the circumstances, of which the store is closed for today, I think it might not be a bad idea to check out the basement, maybe experiment with various ingredients and stuff?" They would smile confidently whilst saying that. Grant would gulp and look a bit concerned, especially knowing the dream he had last night, but Melanie would reassure him "Is everything ok, Grant?"

[Grant]: "U-u-uh... nothing! I think we should be ok to do so!" Sweating nervously, he just shrugs it off and comes to his senses "Yeah, it'll be fun!" He would finish eating as Melanie would drag him to what looks like a doorframe painted into the wall

[Melanie]: "Ok, so if I have this correct, this should give us access to the basement..." She would chant a sort of magic spell, which would suddenly cause a door to magically appear where the frame is painted onto the wall "Tada! We should be ok to enter now!"

[Grant]: "U-uh... ok!" He would be feeling a bit scared about the situation at hand. "D-do you wanna go in first or?"

[Melanie]: They would notice that Grant is a little scared "Hehe, what's wrong, Grant? I can see you're a bit scared."

[Grant]: Sweating a little bit, he would nod, shrugging off his fears, still stuttering a little "I-It's nothing, Melanie, it's nothing...!" Sweating profusely and anxiously, he'd offer to let Melanie head down first "U-Uh, you wanna go down first?"

[Melanie]: They would be understanding of how Grant is feeling, knowing that he'd rather not be going in first "Ok then, if you insist!" Excited to finally step into their mother's basement, they would eagerly step into the basement followed by an anxious Grant "Hehe, what's the matter, scaredy-cat?"

[Grant]: He'd just roll his eyes in response; he would be aware of what Melanie means, but he isn't entirely amused, reacting somewhat sarcastically yet nervously "Y-Yeah, h-hahah, very funny... where are the lights, anyway?"