The Inventor's Neko

[Mari_Rose]

"But I didn't do much" Korina replied her eyes locked in the countless colors "it was just a part of the first floor, tea, and dinner. Really I want to pay you back" she looked at him "you've done so much for me" she smiled a little and turned back to the paints placing a few of the tubs into a basket. Of course she wouldn't chose every color. Just the ones she found familiar and used often when she used to paint. "Are you going to get anything at all?"

 

[CrystalTears]

"I haven't done that much, and you're not quitting tomorrow. Look at it as a long term reward," Itsuki said and smiled back to her, looking at a few of the colors. Maybe he should buy some to not reveal to her that this trip was suppose to be for her? "I have honestly never painted in my life, I have always been more interested in drawing. Due to my profession of course, so we are here to find you some supplies, not me," Itsuki answered honestly, there was no reason to lie. Plus, if he bought any paint now he would probably not use any of it, which would be a waste of money. He truly hated to waste any kind of material, as a scientist that was almost a disgrace.

 

[Mari_Rose]

"You've provided me with a safe home" she turned down another isle to pick out a few brushes "food, a real bed. You even bought clothes for me" Korina chose a few brushes of different sizes and turned her gaze down "so don't say you haven't done much" with a nod she turned and looked at him "do you have a stand, or an easel? I just want to make sure before you buy one" she held the basket in front of herald ran a list of what she had and what she needed left to start painting again, it was a skill she received from her mother so it was important.

 

[CrystalTears]

"Ah..." Itsuki found himself with no words, Korina was right he had perhaps done a lot for her, and denying it would be rude. He let out a small sigh as he had to give this one to her, but paying him back for all this was clearly not necessary. "Korina, you've brought me a piece of happiness that cannot by bought by any amount of money. I may have given you stuff, but that was out of my own free will. My will is not something you can repay with money," Itsuki said to her with a smile. "I am pretty sure I got an easel, it's in my office, but we can move it down to your room if you wish," Itsuki answered to her question looking at her basket filled with different painting equipment. She had become more bold now, more open and spoke a bit back, it was good to see she felt comfortable enough to do so.

 

[Mari_Rose]

"Then I think I'm ready" Korina said with a smile looking down at it's contents. The garden at his house was the perfect place to paint "now what about this ice cream you were talking about?" Her ears perked up and her tail swayed from side to side, she had adjusted her clothing so that her tail was over the clothes. It was much more comfortable that way. "Is it really like milk?" She tiled her head to the side in curiosity.

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki smiled as he payed for the painting equipment she had bought, it was honestly not as expensive as what he had expected. "It's actually a bit thicker than milk and sweeter. That's why you need to brush your teeth good tonight," Itsuki said with a smile as he carried the equipment and placed it in the back of his car before looking a bit around. "I'm pretty sure a nearby park should have an ice cream stand..." Itsuki said as he held out his hand for Korina, it was a bit crowded as these streets usually were, and he didn't want to go running off looking for her. "Here, hold my hand," He offered her with a smile as he knew the park were only a couple of blocks away.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina looked at his hand a little hesitant but took his hand. He was right, the streets were very crowded at this time of day and staying close wouldn't be enough. A passerby could cut them off and she would be lost in the crowd. But even so as they walked she did stay close to him with her free hand on his arm. She kept her head down as well looking down at their feet as he led her through the streets, she wasn't sure why but she had a feeling to not look the passerbys in the eyes. None of them were Nekos, she knew that, but she wasn't sure how accepting they would with their situation right now.

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki lead Korina to the park, feeling both of her hands in his arm. Was perhaps this town a bit scary to her? It was a bit big and a little bit crowded, but maybe she feared humans themselves. He had observed how the shop keeper back at the paint store had stared at Korina, and the same with people who passed them. Honestly, people judged everyone these days. "Here we are," Itsuki said to Korina as they stood outside the ice cream stand, looking at a small poster with the different flavors. "Hm... I haven't eaten ice cream in a while either... I'm not sure which one to pick..." Itsuki muttered as he studied the menu.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina relaxed a little when they got to the park. It was a little more spacious and although there were a lot of people they weren't shoulder to shoulder anymore, there was room to breath. She pulled back from his arm and let go of his hand to look at the flavors. The one that was called chocolate sounded somewhat familiar. Another luxury she couldn't have. Chocolate was a rich mans dessert, that's what her mother always told her. A piece of her remembers having just a tiny bit when she was a child, lucky enough to try some but never again. "What about the chocolate" she suggested to Itsuki and looked up at him

 

[CrystalTears]

"That sounds good. I'll have two chocolate ice creams please," Itsuki asked the man in the stand as he smiled, not bothering to think that Korina was a neko, as he was happy to sell his ice cream, and gave quickly gave Itsuki both of them. "Here you go," Itsuki said to her as he gently handed her own ice cream, and looked around in the park. "We could sit down here for a while if you want," Itsuki suggested as he looked at a couple of benches around the park, it was probably a nice place for Korina to be judging out of her animal like instincts, but he couldn't confirm she had them either.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina smiled as she received her ice cream then glanced at the bench he was referring too. With a nod she walked over and sat down laying her tail on her lap so she wouldn't sit on it and left room for Itsuki to sit as well. "Here goes nothing" she said before giving it a few licks, and then a few more. It was much much better than milk, almost as fantastic as the pastries. "Thank you" she said politely before she forgot to do it then she went in happily eating the frozen treat. "Now, i remember when we first met you mentioned there might be guests, if you dint mind, may I ask who,?"

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki laughed as she clearly enjoyed the ice cream, more than he had thought actually as she was eating it very quickly. He began eating his own ice cream as he sat down on the bench, taking in the fresh air of the town. He loved this town, it was usually peaceful and even if it was a bit crowded, it wasn't as bad as the giant cities. "There might be business men coming, or other scientists. Or my brother for all I know, but he's not coming inside my house, neither is my family in general," Itsuki said as the thought of his family gave him chills. "We usually have meetings about my next invention, then we talk about if it can be used or not, and then how much they wish to invest into it. Don't worry, they probably will not think about your presence, but they are people of high stature, so I just figured you should treat them like my brother. Don't say a word and avoid him as much as you possibly can," Itsuki explained to her.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina made a note in her mind to make her presences unknown, to make it seem like she was never in the house. That probably meant staying in her room where she can paint which was easy enough. Maybe by then she'll know how to read and could practice or try reading a book on her own. But his family, doesn't he want them to visit him? She looked up at him a little confused " why won't your family visit, they are your family and if you don't visit or see each other often, don't they miss you?" She would never be able to rack her head around a broken family, hers was so close over the years. They helped each other, things usually turned horrible fast, especially when they entered a new town, they had to support each other.

 

[CrystalTears]

"I'm pretty sure my family doesn't miss me as much as you might think. Nor do they think highly of me. I quit my education early to begin studying engineering instead. My parents weren't exactly glad over my choice, so I was thrown out. That's why I live in a house on my own," Itsuki answered her as he finished his ice cream. "My parents will still invite me to eat dinner or go on formal parties, but I've never liked those. Too many rich people there. So I only attend those I can't decline. Such as birthday parties," Itsuki added as he was still smiling. The only relationship he had towards his family and was happy over to have was his older brother, Yutou. He was maybe the only one accepting that he didn't want to invest into the famiky business. Or just happy he didn't get more competition.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina frowned a little bit and looked down "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" she nodded and continued "it's really none of my business." Quickly she finished her ice cream wanting to change the subject and topic of thinking. She found someplace to throw it out. Maybe master Yutou's intentions was to give Itsuki something that the rich have so his parents will appreciate what he does. Either way it really wasn't her business. She turned to look at him "is there anything that you planned for today while we were in town?"

 

[CrystalTears]

"I was thinking for us to go to the bookstore, but I am not sure if you are that instered in books, since you don't know how to read... But... It sounds like a good start... so you can chose a book yourself," Itsuki said as he understood her sudden change of subject. She talked very fondly of her family, and she seemed to have good memories of her family, it must be strange to hear someone not getting along with his own family. "You want to go now?" Itsuki asked her, as he wasn't planning on rushing her to go anywhere. The town was big and it was busy, it was good to know that they could take a breather now and then.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina's ears perked up, "well..." She looked back down and rubbed her arm "I don't exactly know what to look for in a book" she frowned a little bit dropping her ears. There was a feeling of shame inside of her, she knew he would try to cheer her up but still. Here she was working for an educated man, even if he left school early he said he invented. For the past few days she's been thinking about all of these new things. For some reason the more she thought about it the more she felt those thing s were supposed to be common sense. Like ice cream, ice was cold, cream is thick and sweet. And yet she had no idea what it was. And the windowsill. Of course that wasn't a bed, if there were two beds in that room the second one would look just like the first one. She sighed and looked back up "I don't want to make a fool of myself.." She said hoping that about summed it up.

 

[CrystalTears]

"I wasn't thinking anything hard. I was thinking something like a picture book. You know, to make it easy in the beginning. We can look at pictures and then words. Even I look at picture books from time to time," Itsuki said, petting her head gently as he watched her ears drip down. It seemed as her ears and tails would react together with her emotions. It would be easy to tell when she was feeling down or worried, that was a good thing at the very least, as he would know if she was being bothered by something. "Do not worry, you're not making a fool out of yourself. You learn something new everyday, and we each learn something different in a different pace. Some are fast, others are slow. There's probably a lot you can teach me as well," Itsuki said as he didn't even doubt his statement, if he was to live in a forest or on the street, Korina could definitely teach him a lot, that and about the different kinds of berries that was in the forest. He knew nothing of that after all, as he was studying technology and logic.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Before he could stop petting her she put her hands gently on his wrist so that he would keep his hand on her head. Right now she needed that soothing feeling but not short term like she would get for praise. It was sort of like the feeling she would get when her mother brushed her hair. Her eyes closed and she even started to purr quietly. It was loud enough for him to hear but none of the passerbies. She never really had control of her purrs, if she wanted this familiar feeling they sort of came with it.

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki was a bit startled when Korina placed her hands on his wrists, but only sighed as the sounds of her purrs from earlier this morning returned. He smiled, as he continued petting her, it honestly was just like a cat. He smiled as he watched the people pass them by, and at how she was becoming more and more comfortable with him being around her. It was a good sign, it was only their second day together after all, and she was already opening up this much. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea getting someone to live with him? Well, a person that was half cat anyway. "You really like this huh?" Itsuki said to her, not teasing her, but only confirming it as he kept petting her head.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina nodded slowly eventually letting go of his wrist, her tail swayed from side to side. Really this was beneficial for both parties, she didn't want to think of herself as an animal, but biologically she was half animal. It lowers the blood pressure. When she felt relaxed she stepped back "you can choose the books for me" she said quietly nodding and looking back up at him a light blush on her cheeks, maybe that was a better thing to do when they were home, not really out in public.

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki smiled as she seemed to enjoy this a lot more than he had thought, he instinctual petted her the first time and after that it became the method he used to either calm her down, or praise her. Seemed as that worked out perfectly, maybe it was the same thing with the brush? He had to try that sooner or later, even if he did try it today. Itsuki stood up, and looked at his watch quickly as they could make time to go to the bookstore, even if dinner time was approaching them. "Well then, let us see if we can find any good books," Itsuki said and smiled as he looked a bit around the park, seeing more and more people, as he reached out his hand for her. "The streets are filling up, so we need to be more careful too," He said calmly to her with his charming smile.

 

[Mari_Rose]

With a small smile in return she took his hand and did what she did before by putting her other hand on his arm so she wouldn't get ripped away. She watch his feet and hers walk together down the street as he led her to the bookstore. She imagined if there were books from wall to wall, hundreds of shelves filled with thousands of books of all didn't colors and thicknesses. If only her mother could see her now, though she was meant to be a pet or a servant she felt free. She was even getting the basis of an education, learning how to read was everything. Not knowing what was in these books gave her a sense of freedom as well, she and only she would discover what was inside.

 

[CrystalTears]

They stood before the bookstore as Itsuki stopped and looked at Korina, with a small smile on his face as he had missed going to the bookstore. It had been such a long time since the last time he had been there. "How about we do it like this, you pick out five books that you like, and I will pick out five books that I like, then we'll read one of them tonight before you go to sleep. Does that sound agreeable?" Itsuki asked her as he was thinking where he should look for books that suited her, and which books he should get himself. He was going to get a couple of new books after all.

 

[Mari_Rose]

"Ok" korina agreed still not entirely sure what she was looking for. But she ventured on into the book store and looked around. It wasn't quite how she imagined but it was still fantastic. She bit her lip not sure where to go for these picture books he talking about until she saw a section with colorful seats and displays. There was even some children there playing with the toys available and thin books in their laps. Even they knew how to read, and they were so many years younger than her. With a deep breath she walked over and disregarded the children as she looked trough the shelves. She kept her tail close to her side knowing small children could be a bit grabby at times.