[O] A Newcomer's Ambush

With one final wave, Giacinto disappeared down the hall.

The mop dog stretched out and gave a little huff, not too amused with being ratted out as different.

It jumped off the bed and scampered towards a crudely set up changing room next to a wardrobe.

Behind the privacy of the fabric screen, it changed shape.

In record breaking time, the boy dressed, adjusting his breasts in his binder before pulling back the curtain. He ruffled his blond hair, looking a little sheepish.

"H-hi."

Daji stood with their back to the screen, arms folded, tapping their finger against their sleeve impatiently. When whoever it was was finally finished changing, they turned around.

"Hah!" they exclaimed. "So you are a person! Amusing."

The fox slouched over a little, creeping around the newcomer (well, not really, he'd been there the whole time) and examining him closely.

"I like you better like this." They paused, and then continued in an accusatory tone, "Well? Who are you?"

"Um, y-yeah."

He hadn't really been hiding the fact that he was a person.

Ti fiddled with the hem of one of his sleeves, looking quite nervous as Daji examined him. It was quite a close scrutiny.

"T-Ti," he stuttered out, cheeks flushing. "Tibor."

"Ti?" Daji picked up on his bashfulness, but instead of toning themself down they were only amused.

"Nice to meet you, Ti." The fox plopped themself down on a bed, on the other side of the room this time. "My name is Liu Daji, but just call me Daji, or any cute nickname you think of."

They lay down on their front, posing like a cover model with one foot in the air. "How long have you been here? Is it fun?"

When Daji moved acorss the room, Ti made a beeline to the familiar things in the room. Zeus and Hatshepsut jumped up at him as he leant against the baby get, looking to the dogs for support.

"Nice to meet you, too."

He tried to shush the loud dogs, but he wasn't gettint too far with that venture.

"I've been here for about eighteen months." He couldn't believe that it had been that long. A smile spread acros his lips. "It's great here."

"That long, huh? Well, I guess that's not really that long in supernatural years!" Daji scoffed. "Did you know there are people over 2000 years old here? Amazing."

With a sigh of satisfaction, the spirit lay flat on their back, spreading their arms and legs out. A soft bed... Refreshing.

"So, tell me about yourself, Ti. Got any siblings? What do you do for a living, if anything? All that jazz."

"Y-yes, I do. It's incredible." He didn't think that people could get so old. It had shocked him beyond belief when he first found out. "I'm only twenty." He felt extremely young here.

"I have a sister. She's the one on that bed." Ti nodded towards the bed that he had been sleeping on. It had been a bit of a get-back at his sister to sleep on her bed, after she had kept him up all night the night before.

"I'm an apprentice tattoo artist and piercer, over in the city."

"You're twenty? I'm eighty-eight!" Daji felt older than before, now. Well, at least they weren't two thousand.

The fox glanced over at the bed. "Oh, I see. So it's just you and your sister in here? And me now."

Daji folded their arms behind their head. "That's interesting. Perhaps you could give me a tattoo, nyahaha! I currently have no occupation. I only just ended a very long journey."

Eight eight? Wow. Now Ti felt really, really young.

"Somtimes her boyfriend stays around." He was staying around more often than not noawadays.

His cheeks flushed as a thought hit him. Were Rai and Liq going to be quiet with a new roommate around?

"O-oh, I'm not very good right now. I still need a lot of practise before I can tattoo anyone properly."

"Boyfriend, huh? Well, I hope they keep quiet!" Daji was seeming to have the wrong idea about that.

"Aw, don't put yourself down," the fox whined, although their voice sounded more patronising than reassuring. "It's alright, I can wait. I'm only going to get more beautiful, so you won't have to work on any wrinkles!"

Sighing yet again, Daji closed their eyes. "It's nice to have a place to stay. Do you know what's fun to do in the city? I'm dying for some fun."

Yes, me too, thought Ti almost dryly. Rai and Liq weren't exactly the quietest or most modest people around.

The boy gave a shy little smile.

"When I'm better I'll be sure to do a tattoo for you."

Ti gave a thoughtful hum. "Uhmm, there;s the theatre. They do a lot of different types of shows. I know a good pizza place, too."

Ti's smile was very endearing, and Daji almost forgot to be teasing for a second.

"Well, thank you very much. I'm sure that won't take long."

The fox poked their cheek, humming thoughtfully. "A theatre? I suppose Italian theatre is a lot different to Chinese theatre. That would be very interesting. Can you take me one day? And we can get pizza afterwards."

"There are a couple different theatres here. There's a little English one that's really good. Though if you want to watch ballet, I'd suggest a little independent Italian one at the far side of town."

Tibor knew a lot of the theatres around.

He worked at two of them in the city, on and off.

"I-I know there'll be a good show on this weekend."

"That's interesting. Well, we have all the time in the world. Let's go to both!"

Daji hadn't really had the time to stop and go to the theatre, well... ever. It would be culturally enriching to spend some time learning about the place they were to be spending the next several years in.

"Oh really? Well, let's go then!" Daji suddenly sprang into a sitting position, chin on fist. "It's a date."

Ti flushed a bright red at the mention of a date.

"I-I won't be able to sit with you during the show," he muttered softly. "But I can get you a really good seat and we can go for pizza afterwards."

He tucked a lock of hair behind his pierced ear, eyes dropping to the floor shyly.

Daji gave a toothy grin. It was funny to see people's faces go red. There was never an exception.

"Awww?" They then frowned. "Why not? Well, I suppose that's okay, you're not supposed to talk during a show anyway."

They cupped their chin, gazing at the ceiling. "I've never had a pizza."

"W-well, I'm going to be in the show."

Under the bottoms of his jeans, his toes curled a little. He always felt nervous inviting people to shows that he was starring in.

He smiled, though, at the mention of not having pizza before.

"I hadn't until I met Rai. The little pizzaria we go to makes the best pizza here in Catania."

Daji gawked. This shy guy, in a show? Did he secretly have a really confident side to him? The fox was now even more intrigued.

"Well, now I have to see it! What part do you play? An important one?"

"The best pizza? Well, that's a lot of pressure to put on a pizza." Daji's stomach growled. "Augh, the talk of it makes me hungry..."

Ti opened up and got less shy the more he knew people. He wasn't always so painfully shy.

But on stage, he could abandon all anxieties.

"I-I'm not the best dancer at the theatre. I don't have a lead role, but I finally got my break and got a good role." It would be the first time he was playing a part that wasn't a background dancer. He was excited for it.

"Shall we go down to the kitchen? I haven't eaten anything yet today."

"Well then, I shall be excited to see your talents." They laughed. "I wouldn't have guessed it!"

With surprising dexterity, they leapt off of the bed. "You read my mind. Can you show me the way? I haven't looked around this place yet."

They bundled over to the front door, and then jumped at the sight and sound of the dogs behind the gate again, forgetting they were there. Reddening in embarrassment, they tried to laugh it off, although their bushy tail was bristling.

"Uh-huh."

He followed Daji towards the door, but paused when the dogs began barking again.

Ti span on his heels and, in a surprisingly firm voice for his usually shy and quiet disposition, began scolding them. "Hush! If you carry on, I'll tell Rai and you wno't get any treats."

Both large dogs whimpered and backed down.

With a satisfied smile on his face, the boy turned around again and continued towards the door.

"Let's go eat."

Daji stared at Ti, surprised by his firm voice but also heart-warmed that he had somewhat been defending them. A small smile, unlike the overbearing grins they usually wore, formed on their lips.

(Behind Ti's back, they poked their tongue out at the dogs.)

Heading down the hallway, Daji bounced along with surprising energy for someone apparently hungry.

"What is there to eat here? Is it tasty? In your opinion?"

"Mostly we all make our own food when we want it."

Ti was one of the few that didn't pilfer from others. There were some people he knew (his sister incuded) that just took whatever was already cooked from the fridge.

"Hopefully I still have some rétes in the pantry."

He'd made a big batch yesterday and hoped that the vultures hadn't gotten to it yet.

"Oh, I see..." How embarrassing. Daji had never cooked for themself, apart from spit-roasting their kill over a log fire. That seemed primitive compared to this environment.

"Rétes? What's that?"

Perhaps they could learn to cook as well, although it would be too degrading to ask anyone to teach them, of course.

"It's a pastry from my home country."

Ti turned down a hallway, gesturing for Daji to follow him.

"It's very good. I prefer teh sweet ones, but my anya made the best meat rétes."

He turned into a large archway. The kitchen was huge, tiled with large white tiles and decorated with black granite work surfaces.

Ti veered to the left of the kitchen, where the wlak-in pantry was located.