☆Starlight Anya!☆

He blinks as she pats his back but doesn't stop thinking about it all that much.

" I have never really thought of it that way... "

This papa of hers... somehow the description makes Masa feel slight kinship. He's quite used to being talked about in that manner himself after all. What sort of person could this be, he wonders now... But if he's doing good things then one can at least surmise he isn't a bad - if anything he seems perhaps 'too good'...?

" That's quite the thing to say of your papa... "

He smiles a bit.

Papa is too good. He should be more selfish! Anya is definitely adding, "teach Gregor how to be selfish" to her list (which she will immediately forget within the next few minutes). She nods happily, looking pleased with herself.

"Yup! I can say lots of things about papa. He's really nice, and takes good care of me! He's..." what does he do as a job? She isn't really sure actually, she mostly just imagines he's off doing detective things since, for some reason, she's decided that's the best job for him aesthetically. "I think he does detectivey things." He absolutely does not.

She happily browses the shelves, looking back at Masa and then back up the shelves.

Wasn't there some candy or something that he was thinking about before?

The stick candies?

Or, in some small part, help them find what they were looking for.

It was no surprise then, when the chime at the front of his door quietly rang; echoing throughout the long halls of the shop. Around his neck, Mugetsu perked up; beady eyes looking beyond the kitchen and into the corridor as Watanuki stroked the back of his head without looking up from his task.

He had no idea who would be arriving that day-- only that someone was coming.. but for some reason, Watanuki had a sense that a healthy amount of snacks would be necessary for today's meeting.

Walking towards the table in the other room, Watanuki placed down a tray of freshly baked cookies; only then looking towards the young girl who had found herself inside his home. The pink in her hair immediately reminded him of someone he'd left at home, the expression on his face already fond as he smiled her way.

"Perhaps not. But what matters is that you've found it now, hm?"

"Bwah?"

The man is definitely someone she's never seen before, and his thoughts feel a bit more like they're coming through a filter moreso than the usual nowadays. It's a bit like when she's listening to Bond, where there's a faint layer of static over. Not too much, but enough that it makes her gawk open mouthed a bit.

The tray of snacks goes completely unnoticed at first.

"Wada-new-key?" That's not really how it's pronounced, but she's trying. Big complicated names like that are a bit too much for her, but she's trying. "Can I call you Nuki instead? That's easier." Or Magic House Guy. That one's a bit more of a mouthful though, so Nuki is probably it.

Is he a secret agent?

That immediately sparks her interest. But... he doesn't seem like an agent guy. Just someone... well, she isn't sure. He seems nice though, so she isn't going to jump to any conclusions. He's probably stuck here just like she is, she's sure - but he's definitely not a normal guy.

Anya points to herself. "I'm Anya Fol... Samsa! Samsa now. Ford-ger is my back home name. Samsa is my here name."

"Ah, wa..." The kids had been studying the life cycle of frogs. So, Chiikawa had handed out a small work sheet that asked the question:

'Please describe and draw each stage of the life cycle.'

"....Together....we'll...solve it."

Anya puts her arms on the desk, and pulls out her pen from her pocket, gripping it in her fist. The pen hovers over the paper, and Anya makes a noise of uncertainty. She squeezes her eyes shut, screwing her face up in thought.

"Um... erm... is it... er..."

Is it tadpoles with feet? Those are the youngest frogs she's seen and she's pretty sure she fell asleep during the talk about... everything before that. But...

Oh!

"Hewlp?"

The strange teen blinks in surprise, mouth full. Yumoto takes the moment to swallow, and quickly stuffs the remnants of the rice ball back into his shopping bag. This was a serious matter, she needed his help!

Not that he knew very much about adult snacking habits... But he knew a lot of snacks in general, and he knew an adult, so he probably had the knowledge somewhere there!

"Adult snacks, adult snacks...My big brother likes rice a lot! I guess rice balls are pretty safe... Oh! But he also said lots of protein is important for muscles! And I think some older customers said something about salt..."

"Papa does have muscles... I think..." He probably does. Soldiers typically do. And, well, everyone does. But he's got soldier muscles and those are probably different. Or maybe bug muscles?

Do bugs have muscles?

His stream of thoughts have led her down her own meandering brook of questions that she'll never get answers for because you just can't ask someone if they have bug muscles. Especially when that someone is sensitive about the bug thing.

Anya hums in thought, looking very serious as she mulls over the suggestion. Luckily, the person's thoughts clear up her initial confusion about what an onigiri was, but... is that something Gregor would like? It might. He likes things that he can hold with one hand since he can't use the other one, and it probably isn't too big since it's just a ball of rice.

Well... it isn't like she has any other ideas.

It's a snack by the sound of it anyway!

Juliyah has to mentally silence the damn demon!

"Juli, it is then. Mm, I try not to be," He says with a nod. Sometimes, it's hard. Especially when you're part of a pactbearer.

"SO, you're an agent!" Juliyah grins big, "I'll have to remember that whenever I need help with anything, Agent Anya!" He holds out his hand.

Agent Anya has a good ring to it, even moreso when other people call her that.

"Hehehe... I'll help you out because I'm a super secret agent! Who's working towards world peace. And world peace starts at... um..." What is it that Bondman says sometimes? "Ground level." She has no idea what that means, but it probably means something cool and important. "But, um! Yeah! A drink! Is it gonna be fruity? I like fruity things!"

Chara catches Anya, as best they can, and sets her down as she begins to show off her treasures — her treasures for Chara. She’s so excited about it, even though these are the same seeds they sell in Aerith’s store where Chara works, and they actually have a few of the same packs she’s holding.

. . .

well, who are they to turn down such thoughtfulness? Chara smiles, taking the packets carefully. They’re smiling.

"Yes yes yes yes!" Anya exclaims, pumping her fists up and down violently while bouncing a bit. She's not really good are gardening (she mostly just ends up getting distracted by bugs and things like that) but she does like to help. Though... it's really the treehouse part that has her most excited.

She's imagining a mansion up in the giant trees around that fancy stupid library that she keeps getting lost in (and doesn't even have a comics section).

It must be a big, cool place for someone like Chara to live in it.

" i was born with them. i can only assume that a superhero is just another variety of hero, but .. there are many who have similar ears where i come from. miqo'te, we are called. " the fluffy ears upon her head pivot and flick. yes, they are indeed real, just as the fluffy tail that sways left to right in rhythm behind her. " however, they are sensitive so i do not enjoy them being touched. " fortunately she's not had to deal with such here. in general, she just didn't like being touched by strangers.

"You're born with 'um?!" Anya gasps in aw, bouncing on her feet and looking up at her starry eyed. "Look, look! I have my hair clips! They kind of look like cat ears too, right, right?" She's only seen cat people in comics and TV shows, so to meet one in real life is really cool! Super cool! Though she feels a little bad about thinking briefly about asking to touch them since the lady said she doesn't like them being touched.

She probably also doesn't like her tail being touched either, even though it's so fluffy! Like Bond's tail, only way longer.

Anya pauses her fawning and bouncing, grinning happily. "I'm Anya! Anya For... er, Samsa! Yeah, it's Samsa now." Samsa is easy for her to say at least. "I like cats a lot! I have a dog though, his name is Bond and he's biiiiiig and fluffy. He likes cats too!"

She thinks he does anyway.

Is that his shirt? And…

Papa. That word again. It makes something squeeze tight in his chest, hard and unforgiving. He bites his tongue.

"Anya. Kleine…" He's genuinely at a loss for words for a moment. The kitchen is an absolute disaster. It looks like a hurricane had knocked through the whole place and turned it upside down.

"You know you're gonna have to help clean up, right? And what were you gonna do when you got to the part where you have to use the stove?" Gregor's mouth twitches. He's tired and really hadn't been in the mood for anything too busy when he was on the way home, but… well. Looks like Anya had other plans.

His work vest is unceremoniously dropped over the back of a couch outside the splash zone as he approaches, the tie quick to follow. He isn't exactly eager to go getting those all filthy with whatever Anya's been up to.

"You should always wait for someone to be here if you want to make something like this, alright? We can do it together, buddy. I don't want you hurting yourself on anything in the kitchen." Gregor fumbles for the actual apron they keep in the kitchen as he leans to peer at the… bowl of mysterious ooze she's prepared. He isn't even sure what she made is going to be edible. He might be able to eat it anyways— his stomach is pretty tough— but he's more worried about her health when it comes to that sort of thing.

Papa! You're back!

Gregor cracks a smile around the sigh that slips from between his teeth. It's not very easy to be annoyed at her when she's just so earnest about it. Even with the eggshells scattered about the floor and batter stuck in her hair.

"Bwah..." She looks down and around herself at the mess. "Oh..."

Anya huffs, looking ragged now that she's realizing just how much cleaning she's going to have to help with. It's kind of a miracle whoever his roommates are didn't notice the noise or disaster occurring. Or maybe they did and were just wise enough to not approach. Either way, she's made this mess, so she has to clean it... that's how spies work.

"When spies make messes... they gotta clean up the bodies... Anya can handle messy work."

Maybe she's getting spies mixed up with Yor's work.

But she perks up instantly when Gregor pulls on the apron and stands next to her, beaming up at him happily. "I was gonna use the stove! Duh." She explains like it's the most obvious thing. "Like the lady on TV." She wipes her hands off on her mock apron and ties Gregor's up for him, looking proud of herself despite her momentary lapse into despair.

She makes a sloppy and lopsided bow out of the apron straps, and it's a bit too loose, but at least the apron isn't going too far. She turns her attention back to the bowl, giving it another stir before holding the spoon up to Gregor.

There's a weird green orb in the spoonful she's holding up to him, and through the thick batter, it's hard to make out what exactly it is. Thankfully, she clarifies.

Like... too hard plain rice with dead with shoe looking minced meat beef? Or just kind of beige plate? Eiden's not sure he's one to speak since there was a time in his life where he ate nothing but cupnoodles. It's not like he couldn't cook if he tried but he would always be too tired or got no time for it.

Eiden's jotting lines down, emboldening them when Anya comes up with her answer, instantly softening from response. Ahh kids are too precious - he could cry!

" You think so? "

He beams away. Easy to agree when it comes with so much confidence.

" Well you do seem to know your stuff so I think I'm inclined to believe you! " And Yuuji said that too, direct or not--

"Yup. Sad food." She nods sagely. "Like I'm in the trenches of war!" Whatever that means. "It looks like dog food. But it tastes okay, he's just bad at cooking but not as bad as mama is."

She keeps drawing, finishing her bug doodle and moving on to trying to draw Gregor. The glasses are nowhere near where they should be, and her attempt to make his eyes look tired just looks like they're melting off the face.

To her though, it looks perfect.

She could be a professional if art was her passion. Yup.

he replies back, voice breezy as the wind as he drinks his coffee sip by sip. the bitter taste blocks some thoughts that come up.

"Optimistic. Op-ti-mis-tic."

"If you want world peace, you can't stutter on your words. Otherwise people will never believe you."

Klay having a teaching moment in the sheer length of his life , perhaps a bit cheerier but not really taking anything seriously right now. Especially with someone like this child.

"Opimystic." She repeats quicker, though it's hard to tell if she's messing it up on purpose now or not. She isn't. It's just a weird word with a lot of different sounds to it. She still has a hard time saying "Forger" a lot of the time.

So people don't believe people who stutter? That doesn't sound right. She babbles and stutters all the time and Gregor always believes her.

Or... well, he does most of the time.

Mama and Original Papa didn't really take some of her statements very seriously, but she was also shady with the truth so... maybe she shouldn't lie so much.

"I see."

"Agent Starlight Anya" is... A little bit of a mouthful, but he's known (and made) similar names - at least in length and descriptiveness - back home, so he really doesn't question it. The "agent" part is probably removable as a title and more for introductory and official purposes regardless, so he can likely skip that bit when referring to her.

It makes sense that she would have some pocket money, seeing as he had pocket money just from being dropped off here, so the people in charge seemed to distribute it somewhat freely. Well, they could be worse, he supposes - sure, they kidnap babies, but at least they cover their living expenses. And... Toy buying expenses.

And then he's met with rapid fire questioning.

"Wh- Uh."

There's a brief, stunned moment where he's taken back by the sudden influx of curiosity, but after a moment of static he recovers himself and decided that actually it's pretty cool that this human baby is so interested in machines.

"Okay, okay, slow down."

He processes for about two seconds, before trying to answer them in succession:

"Okay, some do, yes; it's variable on where they come from. Yes we play games. Computerized 'bots tend to run video games, but we can also play them just like anyone else would."

Go Fish is... Not a very difficult game? But to be fair she is a baby. And it is somewhat luck based.

"My 'bots especially were all gamers. Had to be, when you live in a land governed by card games."

Now it'd beam with pride, holding its claw over its chest smugly.

"It was my job back home to make the cards and keep the rules balanced. Took a lot of work making sure it all worked smoothly for everyone else."

How does a world run by card games work exactly?

Anya smiles broadly, eyes sparkling as she holds the ugly stuffed animal with both hands, rocking on her heels to the balls of her feet as mental images of people with wallets full of cards and paychecks made of booster packs fill her head. Maybe banker isn't right. Maybe it's just a Big Boss.

"So... are you the big boss then? Since you do all the rule stuff? And how does a card game run the world? Do you use it as money? Do people get paid in cards?!" She bounces a bit faster, more and more excited at the idea. "This place sounds so cool! I wanna go! I have lots of cards! Papa got me a bunch of them to keep me busy when he's working!"

Like playing cards and Uno cards and things like that.

Though it wasn't super fun playing by herself, but it was fun when Gregor was able to play with her.

"I don't think so, unfortunately. Buuuuuut, I think I know just the thing to help with your stomach that isn't anything like ginger ale." Maybe it was the fizziness that she didn't like. He wasn't a fan of fizzy drinks himself.

"Juliyah is a weird name. I have a classmate named that. She sucks." Anya nods a little. "So I'll call you Juli 'cause you aren't a jerk." Though the funny way he thinks is weird. Two really conflicting voices and opinions... she wishes she could turn her mind-reading off sometimes.

It'd save her a lot of headaches if she could control it a little better.

He realizes she's talking of the one that kidnapped them but Masa's even so there's a guilty twitch whenever she mentions kidnapping. That young boy... he can't have been much older than her.

" I suppose that's good then. "

Well. At least now he could aim for more honest route. Masa nods decisively. He still feels like he's pickpocketing her money. He doesn't really need pay for something like this though.

" I am not doing this to be paid. "

" It is good to do things without expecting anything in return sometimes. "

He pauses on it. He ought to let in a little - or she'll be more stubborn.

Mr. Ronin had a hard life, huh.

Anya pats his side sympathetically, though he would clearly have no idea why she was acting like he was a depressed and kicked puppy. She was going to have to make an effort to stop using the word kidnapping and every variation.

It's not nice to say things that make people remember bad things.