They walked home, Rose happily prancing around in her new outfit. Isha wondered why she only chose one but figured not to complain for the sake of his wallet. As they got closer to the complex, Isha pulled Rose a bit closer.
They headed up the creaking stairs, Rose behind Isha as he unlocked the apartment door, leading her in. He closed the door behind them, letting Rose pass him. As she passed him, she disappeared and reappeared in his room, looking for space for her things.
"Wait, wait. Hold on a moment." Isha blinked a bit with realization. Rose popped up infront of him with a tilted head. "Couldn't you have just brought everything here and then come back? We walked all the way back when you could've done that?" Isha exclaimed a little, narrowing his eyes a bit.
"Aha… Yeah I guess I could have." Rose smiled nervously and scratched the back of her neck, looking up at him.
"Then why didn't you?" He asked her, tilting his head.
"I guess I just liked walking with you and forgot about it…" She replied, looking down. Isha gave out a sigh.
"Okay, okay. It's not really a big deal anyway, I'm just a little bit surprised I forgot you could do that." He smiled a bit. "Did you put them away?" She disappeared and then reappeared, her hand in a salute on her forehead.
"Yosh!" She exclaimed. Rose had become noticeably livelier. It definitely wasn't a bad thing, but a bit unexpected. Isha nodded his head and led her out the door, locking it behind them.
"Why'd you pick a dress in this weather by the way?" He asked her, tilting his head. She smiled a bit embarrassedly back at him.
"Not like I can feel temperature." She replied with a small laugh. Isha nodded. Maybe it was a perk of becoming a demon? Either way it made sense as to why she didn't complain.
Isha proceeded walking towards the café, Rose holding onto his hand, skipping off ahead here and there. Now that she could wander on her own two feet, she often stopped to look at every new thing she could.
"So, this is snow huh?" She laughed a bit, scooping it up. She walked a bit behind Isha while playing with it. When she went ahead of Isha, He scooped up some himself, made a ball, and threw it at her, nailing her in the back.
"Wah!" She jumped a bit. "W-what was that?!" She exclaimed. "That was cold!" Isha furrowed his brow, smirking a bit, hands in his pockets.
"What happened to not feeling cold?" He retorted, wiping the snow off her back.
"I-I don't know. That's different than what I'm used to!" She exclaimed with a huff, before her attention caught something else. "What's that?" She asked, pointing at a dog.
"Wait are you serious?" Isha narrowed his eyes at her. She tilted her head in response. "That's a dog. A Shiba to be exact." Rose's eye's seemed to light up.
"A dog? I heard about my brother discuss about them with mother and father…" She recalled, nodding. "I didn't know it was so fluffy!" Rose smiled, jumping a bit as she watched it from the other side of the street.
"Not all of them. There are various breeds. You really were just locked up in that room?" Rose froze a bit at his question, nodding.
"I got some stuffed animals that were for me from before I was born. On the brightside they let me live, that might be to not harm their reputation, but still…" She trailed off a bit, looking down. Isha pat her head, feeling a bit bad for reminding her.
"Well, I'll teach you about whatever you may need to know." He told Rose, holding her hand. "I am your big brother now after all." He added, to which she responded with a giggle.
The rest of the way to the café was filled with Isha explaining to Rose what the different things were, from mailboxes to several different stores they passed. She excitedly listened to his explanations.
Isha started to wonder why she didn't explore out of the apartment, but decided to leave it be for now, entering the café.
"Hey old man, I'm here." Isha announced to the old man, who smiled at him, already starting to brew. There were a few groups of customers and one or two that were by themselves.
"Welcome Isha, and to you Miss Rose. I see you went shopping?" Mr. Ilan asked, tilting his head. Isha nodded, helping Rose in a seat before sitting himself.
"Yes sir, figured I had to soon." Isha replied, waving at May, who had stuck her head out. She had a blank expression, waving a bit back before returning to work.
"Anyone notice your eyes yet?" The old man inquired him, leaning in as he lowered his voice. Isha shook his head.
"Surprisingly no. At least not that I'm aware of. I figured I'd tell people I had them dyed or something." Mr. Ilan nodded at Isha's words.
"That will more than likely suffice for most people." He set two cups in front of them, pouring the brown liquid in, Rose watching intently while Isha laughed a bit.
"Remember to blow it off." He reminded her. She nodded her head.
"I know, I know." She huffed, blowing on her cup while Isha watched the steam rise from his for a bit.
"You two seem to be getting better along. That's good." Mr. Ilan mentioned, smiling softly before noticing a customers hand up, leaving to assist them.
"Here, some food." May informed them in a monotone as she set two plates of food in front of them. It was about dinner time, luckily for Isha it wasn't late enough for his mind to talk.
"Thanks, did you have a good day today?" He asked may, patting her head. She smiled softly at him.
"Nn. Not to busy, but not dead either." She replied in a happier tone of voice, closing her eyes a bit. Rose watched, her eyes a bit narrowed as she started to eat her brisket.
"Bleh! This has salt in it…" Rose exclaimed, her tongue sticking out as she set her food down.
"Oh, my how thoughtless of me." May replied, taking her plate. "Let me make you another." Isha thought she wore a sly smirk for a second but dismissed the thought. He looked down at his own plate, hoping his wasn't a mistake as well.
Rose watched as he took a bit into it. The cheese and meat immediately spread amongst his taste buds as he happily ate it. Rose seemed to wear a horrified gasp.
"That's not fair." She mumbled, causing Isha to tilt her head at her.
"Hm? What's not?" He asked her, setting the sandwich down to take a sip of his coffee. Mr. Ilan came back, giving an order to May.
"Nothing." She huffed, furrowing her arms. May soon set another sandwich out in front of Rose, going back to the kitchen to work on the order Mr. Ilan had given her. The old man had soon departed again, tending to his customers.
Rose nodded her thanks to May as she left to the kitchen. Rose then retried another bite of her brisket, finding it to be safe as she quickly munched it down. Isha smiled softly as she enjoyed her food. He didn't have much of an appetite currently, pulling out the book he had in his coat.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked, peeking over at the book.
"Reading." Isha replied, flipping a page, giving her a quick glance.
"What's it say?" She tilted her head, inquiring him. Isha furrowed his eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" He asked in reply, tilting his own head.
"I don't know what it says." Rose replied, looking at him seriously. The event from this morning flashed in Isha's mind, causing him to furrow his brow even more.
"Are you illiterate?" He asked her, looking directly at her now. She nodded to his question, looking back.
"Yeah? I mean… is it that much of a surprise?" She added, shrugging her shoulders a bit. Isha thought for a moment and nodded his head.
"I suppose you're right; it does make sense. But still, I just… It's strange for me to hear that you know?" He sighed a bit, bookmarking the page and closing it.
"Teach me?" Rose tilted her head, giving him a bit of a pleading look, her eyes floating from the book to him. Mr. Ilan came back from serving the customers, just to pick up the food May finished cooking.
"I suppose I can do that. Hey old man?" Mr. Ilan looked at Isha, the plates in his hand. "Could I see one of the menus you set at the tables?" He asked, tilting his head.
"Oh why most certainly. I heard a bit of the conversation; I'll give you more material once the slower hours hit." Mr. Ilan replied, smiling to them as he set a small version of the menu in front of Isha.
"Thanks old man, sorry for disturbing you." Mr. Ilan let out a small laugh and twiddled his mustache a bit before picking the food back up.
"No issue Isha. Anything to be of service." And with that he headed back to delivering the plates.
Isha opened the menu and began to teach Rose the alphabet first, using the letters in the menu, then going from there. May watched a bit from the kitchen until new customers came in with orders.