Hold My Hand

Reizo tensed very faintly due to being caught off guard, then slowly relaxed into things letting Shaya cuddle. "You too Shaya. Good night.." It had been a hectic time since his first meeting with Shaya but he was glad she was around. It had gotten a bit lonely being by himself in the apartment, even if he did have friends but living alone got to you after a while.

Shaya smiled, giving a light squeeze. "Goodnight, Master..." She was rather quickly asleep after that; it had been a long day.

It was around the next morning Reizo woke up with a slight yawn; he was tired still but always was when he first woke up. It wasn't that much longer before he felt a weight against him, Shaya was still sleep. She looked peaceful so he didn't want to wake her up.

I don't have anything so I'll let her sleep a bit longer.

Unfortunately for Reizo, or not, Shaya woke almost immediately after he did. She immediately caught his gaze, and smiled brightly, giving him a quite affectionate hug. "Mm, morning, Master. Did you sleep well?"

Reizo was taken back by Shaya waking up at the same time, and the hug but he relaxed. "Yeah I did. What about you?" It was really hard not to like Shaya the more time you spent with her.

She nodded happily. "I slept very well, Master. I was more comfortable than I have been for many years."

Reizo smiled slowly at that then slowly got himself up and out the bed. "Why don't you head in the kitchen? I'll be there soon I just need to clean up, plus I want to cook for you. I mean..its only fair since you did all that with Suki yesterday."

Shaya seemed about to protest, then nodded. "Alright, Master." She slipped out of bed, and hurried off to the kitchen as asked.

It wasn't too long before Reizo came into the kitchen as well, looking pretty happy himself as he started to get things together to cook. He was going to go with something simple: pancakes. Who didn't like them? Besides they were pretty easy to make and far less time consuming.

"Do you feel like doing anything today Shaya?" He was talking while gathering the extra odds and ends in the kitchen for breakfast.

Shaya seemed to think about that. "Um... not really. I don't really know what I could do. I'm not used to this... spending time with you is good enough for me."

Reizo wanted to say something more, but he was drawing a blank. If it was made her happy, why worry about it? Pretty soon he was done for breakfast and set a plate down in front of her. "We'll, it may not be the best but I heard its decent. I hope you like it." It was better then he let on though, it was just Reizo being himself.

Shaya smiled softly, then began eating gracefully. After the first few bites, she stopped and smiled at him. 'This is delicious, Master, thank you.' It was funny that even though she spoke telepathically, she seemed to follow the 'don't talk with your mouth full' rule.

Reizo was amused as he watched her. "Glad you like. How long did it take you how to learn to cook yourself?"

She blinked at that. "Oh, um... about a year, to cook the way I do, Master. Mistress Elaine was a very good teacher, and an even better cook."

"You're a fast learner then, or maybe its more your gift? You know it took me longer to get really good at cooking then just decent. But I have another question, can you talk or make noises without using telepathy?" He was curious, but it could be her mouth was just for eating.

And..no. Stop that. Bad thoughts were bad.

Shaya nodded softly. "Yes, Master. I can vocalize, laugh, hum, things like that. Master Richter tried to teach me to actually speak, but before we could get any real progress, Young Mistress Luna passed away, and... it just didn't seem important after that...."

Reizo felt bad for the young woman..or older woman? She looked young anyway, despite being notably older then him. Some wouldn't call them a woman but to him Shaya was obviously a person, a bit different but there was nothing wrong with that.

He gently gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I can't replace the people you lost and I don't want to..and while we don't know each other well I want to be there for you. I can't speak for the others, but knowing them it'll be the same. I'm not sure if you still want to, but I think Karin would be the best bet for that, if you want too."

Shaya cocked her head to the side. "Why is that? I don't understand."

"Huh? Do you mean teaching you how to talk or that I want to be there for you? If its the later, I guess its more its how I am. That and I think of you as a friend already and I help my friends. The first I was more asking if its ever something you change your mind on." Reizo had to admit, Shaya was cute when she did the head tilt thing.

Shaya nodded slowly. "Still not sure what you mean, but I will think about it. I can communicate fine as I am, but I know some people are uncomfortable having my voice in their head." She paused for a moment. "Master, I did have a thought for something I'd like to do at some point, if it is not too much trouble."

Reizo couldn't think of what it could be, but he was curious. "Uh sure. What do you have in mind?"