"Yeah, Solvei made a lot of friends her first few days. I'm Scott, and this is Stiles."

He steps inside slowly, looking around the restored building.

"You work fast, I would never have thought anyone could fix it up like this."

"Ah, well, from the moment I saw it I knew I had to have it. Solette!" she calls, turning away from the door, and then some more words in - possibly French? Possibly weirdly accented French.

Solvei comes down the charmingly renovated stairs. "Hi, guys! I see you've met my aunt!"

Probably Thulic, since they're from Thule.

How long will it take to learn Thulic? 

"Yeah. She was telling us why she picked this house, out of all the burnt-down mansions in California."

Ghyslaine laughs. "It was just so beautiful!"

"And deeply morbid!" says Solvei.

"Well, you know. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"Please don't tell me you have an ambition to become Morticia Addams."

"I admit nothing," says Ghyslaine, a mischievous sparkle in her eye. Solvei sighs theatrically.

"It's nice that someone can live here after what happened. Kind of hopeful, I guess?"

"Yes, you see? This one understands," says Ghyslaine, gesturing to Scott.

"All right, sure," says Solvei, amused. "Everybody loves hope. Anyway, truffles! Kitchen's this way!"

To the kitchen they go.

"I've never made truffles. I mostly make dinner for my mom, for when she has late shifts. I never make anything sweet."

"I will be happy to teach you everything I know about making truffles!" says Solvei.

Everything she knows about making truffles turns out to be quite a lot. Every suggested flavour that seemed even vaguely reasonable to put in a truffle is present, and she has a chart crossing these with available chocolate strengths (dark, milk, and white) to maximize the variety of the resulting truffle selection, next to a highly readable flowchart-like diagram that neatly lays out the path of the basic truffle recipe and all the various detours and substitutions that are necessary to produce each specific kind of truffle.

Scott is really pleased with the variety! 

He picks up the basics fast, and before long, they're splitting the work evenly between them. 

Stiles turns about to be very unhelpful to the cooking process, mostly providing commentary on the history of chocolate and whether coconuts are more awfully designed than pineapple. 

That's fine. Solvei can multitask the cooking and the conversation about food facts.

Scott handles the parts that require dexterity and timing just fine, and before long he seems to understand the logic behind substitutions. 

"I've never really gone beyond pasta and chile relleno, so this is kind of exciting. What else do you know how to make?"

"Oh, tons of stuff. Want to make the cooking lessons a regular thing? That sounds like fun."

"We can work out a schedule. You can get him on Thursdays, because that's when I scope out crime scenes, and I'll take him whenever you're at- art club? Woodworking? Tennis practice?"

"I've checked out fencing club and photography club so far. Not sure where I'll settle. Befriending everyone in Beacon Hills is going to be a challenge and I'll have to strategize carefully."

"Most of the people here are dull, and the rest hate each other. I'm not sure how you're going to pull that off."

"Hard work and talent, the same way I accomplish all my other miracles."

"Try not to let your big dreams fill up the entire town; people are trying to live here."

"It's a nice thought, Stiles, and if anyone can do it, I'd bet on her." 

"Don't worry," she says, "I don't intend to let my whimsical dreams cause real problems. But thank you, Scott. It's good to be appreciated for the tiny force of nature I am."

"So, serious question: did your aunt pick this place because she knew the story? They just figured out who did it, so picking now to move in is kind of...provocative."

"Serious answer, I do think the coincidence appealed to her sense of humour, but the main draw of the house was how out-of-the-way it is. It's a comfort thing for her - discourages people just showing up out of the blue. Nobody but family gets to see Ghyslaine Royer or her house looking any less than their best. We all have our quirks and I think this one's pretty harmless."

"So it's not some kind of statement, just a quirk." 

"Yeah."

And the truffles are done! 

Stiles is very excited by the prospect of eating them, but will deign to share them with their classmates tomorrow.