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How to Care for Your Human [Degu x Kekse]

"Really? You've seen the original, or are you just saying this artist is good as well?" Eve hesitantly approached the statue he had been commenting on, leaning forward to read the placard with its description and meaning of the piece of art. The original was all the way in Italy? It would make sense that Italy would have a fine selection of art from all of their well known artists over the century, but for some reason seeing a replica here and reading about it being there seemed strange to her. Maybe it was just the shock of being out and about in public and remembering there was a world far away from her former prison.

"I could never do anything this good. I don't think I would ever want to do sculptures anyway, but I could never make anything good enough to be in a museum." Maybe if she'd gone to school longer, if she'd dedicated herself more to the arts, but now it was just a hobby she could play with in her free time as a reaper's pet. All in all, it wasn't a bad gig, but she had to admit there had once been a desire to be good enough at her craft that it could be displayed publicly.
 
Shade shook his head with a smile. "No, I haven't bothered to visit that particular gallery. But whoever managed such a good replica definitely deserves the recognition." He continued slowly working his way through the room, stopping to examine each piece with a long, thoughtful pause before moving on to the next. It didn't take long for him to realize that this room was entirely Italian works; this piqued his interest and he began searching for a specific name. The reaper did his best to show Eve that he was willing to give her as much space as she wanted to enjoy the art, while not wanting to be too far away in case she ran into trouble with any other patrons.

Eventually he found a familiar piece, a simple painting of a night sky. His finger gently caressed the name on the placard with a wistful smile. "Oh Lucian, I miss you, my brother." Eve's voice pulled him out of his moment and he chuckled. "I bet you could, if you really wanted to. You have the time and supplies to improve now. Perhaps even art courses if things continue going well."
 
Something in the room had clearly captured the reaper's attention, but that worked just fine for Eve. He was close enough to intervene if she had an issue with anyone, but far enough away she didn't feel smothered or like she was under a microscope anytime she moved. It was a huge difference from the facility she had spent months in where her every move was watched. When she showered, ate, slept, everything was kept track of on the security cameras to assure she didn't escape or

"Maybe." She shrugged. "I'm not sure I'd know what to do even if I was that good. I'd probably be awkward and terrible at it." Wait, what had he just said? Art courses? As in classes to teach her to get better at what she could already do? Surely she hadn't heard him right. Taking off her collar for them to go on a museum tour and then putting it on again was one thing, but classes?

"...Art courses?"
 
"I mean, only if you want to," Shade shrugged as he moved on to another piece in the room. "If you're not into the whole structured lessons thing, that's fine. I'm sure I could arrange a tutor instead if you were more comfortable with lessons at home." He seemed not to understand at all her actual meaning behind the question; he was convinced that she'd want some sort of way to improve if art was something she enjoyed. "That's probably the more expensive route, though, so we would probably have to cut down on other things if you wanted a tutor. Obviously we would also have to see which master of your chosen medium is the most affordable."

The reaper flashed her a smile and crossed the last few exhibits of the room. He paused in the doorway to the next section of exhibits, not wanting to rush Eve's enjoyment of the art. A couple of werewolves he recognized from a few doors down from his own home entered the room and, recognizing their neighbor, they smiled. "Oh hey, never thought we'd come across you actually being out and about for leisure! Unless...you're here for a job?" The couple glanced nervously at each other, then back to the reaper. Shade shook his head and they both visibly relaxed. An annoyed and slightly sick feeling settled in the bottom of Shade's stomach at the subtle prejudice, but he did his best to not allow his face to reflect his discomfort.

"Just enjoying my day off with my new friend." Shade gestured to Eve, and the werewolves glanced over at her.

It seemed the wolves hadn't linked the two before and smiles crossed their faces. "Ah, what a cute little thing!" the wife exclaimed, waving at Eve. "We're the reaper's neighbors! My name is Bette and my husband is Robert. You must be a brave soul to befriend a reaper!" Bette turned back to Shade and winked. "You better be nice to the little lady. If he gives you trouble, you are welcome to knock on our door!"

Shade grew more and more annoyed with his neighbors, but he remained calm and collected. He even managed a chuckle and a genuine-passing smile. "Don't worry, she's perfectly safe with me. Come on now, Eve. Are you almost ready to move on to the next section?"
 
He really didn't get why she was so surprised by the notion of classes, did he? Now he was talking about a tutor? The fact that he was willing to spend that kind of money on her for any type of classes was what was so astounding. Art courses weren't a necessity like food and clothing was. Even this particular trip out wasn't a necessity, but she had assumed it was an extra sort of gift to add onto his kindness for the holiday humans favored so much. But classes?

She said nothing and watched him move across the room, hovering in the doorway as he waited for her to finish her own examination of the exhibits before they moved on. Of course more people he knew would appear, people that gave her a sense of dread despite the fact that they weren't staring at her like food or making any move to directly approach her. In fact, they seemed more unsettled by seeing Shade there, and when she caught wind of why they were nervous, she almost felt bad for the reaper. That seemed like such a lonely existence, to have even the people friendly with you fear your presence.

Eve lifted a hand and waved slightly in return to the female werewolf, approaching slowly but keeping herself far closer to her companion than the wolves. Brave? They thought it brave to be able to befriend a reaper? Now it really seemed like a lonely existence, but she couldn't tell if their comments bothered Shade or if he was just ready to move on through their little self-tour.

"Yeah, I'm ready. It was nice to meet you two." Her hand grasped at his arm lightly as they passed through the doorway into the next room, and she glanced back at the werewolves briefly before moving forward and then abruptly letting go of the reaper's arm. She hadn't meant to grab onto him like that, even a light grip, but it had seemed like a good idea to be closer to him than any of the other creatures there.

"Do you just know everyone?"
 
Eve's hand on the reaper's arm momentarily ripped his attention away from the politely rude neighbors and crash landed it into the distance between the two of them. Was this really the same snarling and swearing human from before? "No, not everyone. Lots of people and beings, yes. But not everyone. Those two just happen to live two doors down from us in the big, blue house. And I more know *of* them than *know* them, if you know what I mean. Even werewolves aren't exactly thrilled to spend much time with a reaper." He sighed and shook his head, not particularly wanting to delve too deeply into that topic in such a public place.

The room they entered contained many Greek-style art pieces. Shade did his best to look like he was focused on the busts in front of him; however, inside he was a chaos of turmoil. He had never intended for Eve to see how other residents of the world treated him. There was a reason that reapers took on a human-like form when not on duty...and a reason they protected their identity as much as possible. The fact that Eve didn't run away the moment she was given a chance honestly mystified him.

But Shade did everything in his power to brush off the encounter and return to enjoying their outing. Eve seemed to be enjoying herself, as far as he could tell, so that was good? "I hope you're enjoying the museum, even with the unexpected company. Do you have any favorite artists or time periods?"
 
"I haven't really had a chance to pay attention to the neighborhood." Never mind that her only trip out of the house with him before today had been for shopping, the weather was cold, and she was only human at the end of the day. Standing around in the snow staring at the neighbors' houses wasn't exactly on her list of priorities. "It's their loss." How had she managed to become the pet of a creature that even others feared? Clearly her year of solitude interrupted only by "training" and punishments had made her a bit soft to the plight of a lonely individual, be he human or not.

"I don't know." It had been some time since Shade had last spoken to her, and while his question was valid and relevant, she didn't have an immediate answer. "I like a little bit of everything. I like the different styles. Greek is nice, but I have to admit that many of the pieces I like there are because they depict some of the mythologies on them." Speaking of mythologies, did that mean creatures of ancient lore were more real than humans had anticipated? Werewolves, vampires, reapers, those were all real. What's to say something bizarre like a minotaur or Medusa wasn't?

"I like the way watercolor paintings look, but I've never been very good at them. I'm too impatient most of the time to wait for them to be done properly, and then I just end up with a ruined canvas and a mess all over my hands and clothes." Maybe that was something she could learn in art classes, if she took him up on that offer, of course! "I guess it really depends on my mood. What about you, what's your favorite? Maybe I can bribe you for more no-collar time with some homemade art one of these days." She paused and gave him a hesitant smile.

"Kidding."

Sort of.
 
"You like mythology, then? Well, when we get home I'll have to pull some of my favorite texts for you. I have the writings of Minos and Pasiphae sitting around somewhere...probably in the basement. It's easier to keep the humidity and temperature regulated down there. Might have some tales of Perseus too if I look hard enough." Shade looked thoughtfully at a statue of Hercules and chuckled. "Boy, did they have this guy all wrong. Whoever history paid to write the ballads on him must have paid dearly."

He turned with a smile and chuckled at Eve. "I don't have the patience for most forms of art, myself. Much prefer looking and reading. If we're speaking of human artists, I'm rather fond of Michaelangelo and his contemporaries, though not the abstract nonsense. For supernaturals, well...I think nobody can beat Ivan the Sculptor. His carvings look more alive than he does."

It took a few moments for her last statement to sink in. Was she...making jokes? He'd already made up his mind on that topic, though. "I mean, I won't say no to gift art, but you've done so well so far that I was thinking there's no need for you to wear that when I'm around. Not sure if I'm ready to let you roam free while I'm at work, but we'll see how things go. I'm not overly fond of the thing, either. It looks quite uncomfortable."
 
Of course he had mythology themed books at home. Why wouldn't he? Wait, there was a basement in his home? Clearly she hadn't done much exploration, she'd only gone where she needed to and most of that had been done in a bit of a nervous manner so far. Her attention turned momentarily to the statue of Hercules and she wondered just what he meant by them getting it wrong. What had Hercules actually been like? Had he actually met Hercules?

"I'm not familiar with Ivan." Her jest had clearly caught the reaper off guard as he looked at her blankly before speaking, but his words caught her off guard far more than hers had him. She had been mostly joking with him, knowing that the chances of her being collar free from now on her slim to none aside from their outings if her behavior remained good.

"It... It is." It had been made more comfortable by the padding he'd fashioned for it, but constantly having something wrapped around her throat had not gotten easier with time. One would have thought it would once she'd gotten used to it, but nothing could make her get used to the reminder that she was nothing more than property, and even the temporary reprieve from it was heavenly.

"Is this a test?"
 
"Which part?" Shade remarked, no longer trying to hide the smile that had slid into place across his lips. "I told you when I took...it...off earlier that this trip was an experiment. But it seems that the experiment is going well." He subconsciously reached forward to pat her shoulder, only to pause and pull his hand back abruptly. Did...she care if he touched her? The entire time she'd been in his home, he had been very careful to ensure she did not feel threatened by his presence (to the best of his ability) so he kept his distance when he wasn't attending to the collar.

Better safe than sorry, he figured. He instead shoved his hand into his pocket and looked into the next room. "You've never heard of Ivan? Well, I'm sure there are some replicas of his work around here somewhere. They won't be quite as good as the originals, but I imagine they're still pretty good." The reaper strolled through the museum, casually examining the pieces and making the odd comment until they entered the room of Romanian artists. The center of the room was taken entirely by a massive marble statue of Ivan himself, fangs extended and eyes burning through the soul.

Shade stepped up to the rope around the statue and stared up at it with wonder. The veins practically seemed to pulse and his hair seemed to wave in a non-existent breeze as if the statue itself had been imbued with some sort of magic. "This is Ivan."
 
The way he referred to the collar as 'it' was interesting, and she was busy thinking over that when the hand patting her shoulder gently caught her off guard and startled her. Just enough for her to jump and look at him with wide eyes, then she settled down and watched as he awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets and moved toward the next room. It seemed neither of them had any intention of directly addressing what had happened and she was just fine with that.

"Are replicas ever as good as the originals?" She chuckled quietly and followed after him closely, glancing at periodic pieces but finding herself wanting when it came to something eye-catching. She was, after all, waiting to see this Ivan's work that Shade had mentioned. If it was good enough for a reaper to enjoy it, surely there had to be some appeal to it.

"Oh. It's, uh, got a bit of a vampire look to it, doesn't it?" She paused a distance back from the statue of the fanged individual, pursing her lips and examining it before skirting closer to the reaper even as he looked at it with such fascination. "Why does it look like that? It's not going to jump out at me and talk or anything, is it?"
 
"It certainly does," Shade chuckled, stepping back to allow Eve to more easily examine the statue. "Ivan insists that it took him a full century to find the perfect block of marble and carve it to his liking. Though his friends say that's an exaggeration." He placed his hand on the pole which supported the velvet rope around the statue, a smile still playing at the corners of his mouth. "Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if it took him that long. The attention to detail is exquisite. It definitely isn't going to jump up and bite you, but he sure looks like he will."

The reaper stared at the statue for another moment before sighing and taking a step back. He made a mental note to actually visit the real statue someday, for the first time in his life picturing traveling with a companion. Strangely, it felt...good. Not that Eve was likely to travel with him by choice, he figured. No, nobody would choose to spend time with a reaper. Well, except Howl. But Howl was an idiot with a lower IQ than a wad of chewed gum, so there was that. And even that friendship hadn't exactly blossomed overnight...He shook those thoughts from his mind and forced the smile he had lost back onto his face.

There were only two more rooms in the museum, which Shade passed through with little more than a bit of poking about. These were more modern displays from lesser known artists, and their offerings were far inferior to the rest of the displays. They changed often and gave up and coming artists a chance to be seen, though when Shade compared them to the masters...he could hardly even pretend to be impressed. Sure, he was a bit judgemental, but hey. When one had seen the width and breadth of humanity and its offshoots, well...the skill scale was wide and obvious.

By the time they had reached the end of the loop and emerged back in the lobby, Shade realized that it was approaching afternoon and Eve might be getting hungry. He pulled the list of restaurants from his pocket and handed it to her again with a smile. "It's about lunch time, eh? I still don't know what you like, but this is what is easily accessible in this area and what they serve. There's actually quite a bit of regular human food around here for the weres and other species with human stomachs."

And he wasn't lying. The list contained everything from your standard McDonald's to slightly nicer places like Applebees, to what sounded like pretentious sit-down style restaurants with foreign names and foreign-sounding dishes. They weren't in any particular hurry so any style of dining was fine, and most places had a menu for those with 'special diets' as well. Not that Shade needed to eat at all, but once in a while he did enjoy a taste of various cuisines. "So what do you think? You can pick any of these, I don't care. "
 
The remainder of their exploration inside didn't seem to last much longer before it grew close to lunch time, and she accepted the piece of paper curiously before realizing what it was. He really had thought of everything, hadn't he? Had people in her old life been this courteous, or was she just so used to the mistreatment from the facility that such a simple gesture seemed so odd and heartfelt? Whatever the case there, there was no point in dwelling over something as simple as a list of places to choose from for food. Food was food, but it was nice to have the options.

"Uh.. Anywhere?" She peeked up at him cautiously before looking back down at the list and browsing it slowly. There were so many options that she really wasn't sure where to start, but in the end she settled on an unfamiliar sounding pizza place that was probably some local little hole in the wall joint. It had been so long since she'd had something as greasy and overall healthy and unhealthy at the same time such as pizza, and the longer she thought about it the more delicious it sounded. Good old greasy pizza to warm both the body and soul.

The ride there was made with some idle chit chat about the different exhibits they'd seen throughout the morning, although Eve repeatedly found herself distracted either by the slight concern he might change his mind about the collar or the scenery outside of the car as they drove. It was a constant battle to keep herself engaged in any type of conversation rather than appear rude to her companion, but she managed to make it to the pizza place without completely zoning out or ignoring the poor reaper who was just trying to be nice.

"You know, I can't remember the last time I actually ate pizza."
 
"Yes, anywhere," Shade replied with a chuckle. He watched with amusement in his eyes as she poured over the list and settled on what was, indeed, a small local pizza place just a few blocks away. Their chitchat was nice enough and, though the reaper could tell Eve was distracted, he very politely ignored it. Why wouldn't she be? Despite the leaps and bounds of progress they'd made in the short time since she'd been tossed into his life, Shade knew it would take much longer for her to trust the very bringer of death. If she ever did...He tried not to linger on that, however, and maintained his calm demeanor as they arrived and stepped into the restaurant. "It has been that long, huh? Well, I guess it's time to remedy that."

It was a tiny little place with a friendly-looking woman at the register. "Welcome in," she called out with a smile as the pair entered the shop. "Have you been in before?" Shade shook his head and the woman grinned even more broadly. "Wonderful! Let me explain how it works, then. You'll pick your size, the type of crust you want, and your toppings. Then I'll toss it in the oven, here, and bring it over when it's done. Do you have any questions?"

Shade again shook his head and glanced up at the menu. "We will each do our own," he finally replied, completely unsure what Eve would even like on a pizza. This was the much safer option. "I'll have the half-size personal pizza with regular crust, marinara, mozzarella, and basil. And whatever my friend would like, please." He gave the cashier a grin and watched with interest as she assembled his order and popped it into the oven. She waved her hand in front of the appliance and the fire burst into life. "Fire elemental?"

She nodded and began assembling Eve's pizza next, smiling pleasantly. "Indeed. It took a while to train him not to scorch the pizzas, but once he learned that he could eat any grease that drips down from the stone, he was happy to learn. Adorable little thing." The fire crackled proudly in response and the lady moved the second pizza into the oven. Shade pulled out his wallet and paid before finding himself a table. Their food soon arrived and Shade carefully picked up a slice, shaking his fingers to disperse the heat from being too eager.
 
Well, it had been roughly a year of just the training while she was trapped and being prepared to become a pet, so it had been at least that long since she'd had pizza, and however long before her untimely capture. At least the woman at the counter looked friendly enough, although she was, of course, inhuman as well as everyone else in the shop seemed to be.

"Huh?" They were each doing their own pizza? For a moment Eve looked like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights at his proclamation before her head whipped toward the menu so that she could try to rush into a decision rather than leave everyone waiting. Hell, she hadn't expected him to put her on the spot like that! "Just, uh, just a normal one with pepperoni is fine?" She hated that she was questioning her own choice, her cheeks dusted a light pink from the accompanying embarrassment as she reaffirmed her answer and shuffled over to a table with Shade.

Why was she so awkward?

They sat in silence until the food arrived and Shade set to working on his, but Eve hesitated slightly before picking up one of the pieces and sniffing subtly at it. It wasn't necessarily that she thought there was anything wrong with it or that it would harm her, but it was food that had been essentially cooked by a sentient being of sort, so what was she supposed to think?

"Thanks. For the food." She finally managed a mumble of gratitude before averting her eyes and biting into the food, fanning at her mouth as the heat invaded her senses and made her eyes water momentarily before she regained her composure. Maybe biting right into it as a distraction wasn't the best choice in the world... "It's good." Now that it wasn't burning her mouth, it was very good. Did having it cooked by an elemental change the taste? Was she technically eating part of a living being or was it just the magic that heated it?
 
Despite seeing Eve's apprehension at starting on her food, Shade chose not to say anything about it. He simply allowed a little curl of a smile to tease the corners of his lips as he slowly ate his hot pizza and enjoyed seeing her enjoying something. It always seemed to bring him joy seeing her happy, the reaper realized, and he absently wondered when she had gone from 'a pet dropped on his doorstep by his best friend' to someone whose company he had begun to enjoy. Someone whose smile he really wanted to see. It was honestly really strange.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it. I'll admit, I haven't eaten food in general for...well, quite a long time. I forgot how pleasant it was." Shade picked up a second slice and carefully blew on it, though it had cooled enough that he really didn't need to. He fell into what he felt was a rather comfortable silence, watching the other patrons around them as they laughed and talked and enjoyed their lives. In general there was a positive atmosphere within the restaurant; it was a bit jarring for a creature who dealt primarily in death, but it wasn't unpleasant. Perhaps going out more often would be a good idea?

After the second slice, Shade decided he didn't want the rest right now and pushed the plate away slightly. He leaned back in his chair and stretched, a large yawn widening his mouth as it escaped. Knowing that Eve likely would eat more than himself, he pulled out the list of other activities in the area that he had gathered and spread it on the table to examine. "Do any of these other things sound like activities you would like to participate in? Or would you rather go back home?" He pushed the paper toward her and watched with mild eyes. "I'm content to do whatever you want to do. This is a day for you, after all."

The list was quite comprehensive; it listed everything from shopping centers to arcades to museums and shopping. Shade felt like he still hardly knew anything about what Eve actually liked, so he figured he'd cover his bases. This was an opportunity for him to learn more about her so he could make her happier and more comfortable. "At the very least, we should do some grocery shopping. I noticed that most of what I bought has either been eaten or started to go bad, so I think I have a little bit of an idea what you like to eat, but I'm not sure. Surely you'd like to choose your own food at least this time?"
 
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