Welcome to Gaia! ::

Its quite all right, he assures her with a smile, taking a moment and letting his eyes adjust to their dim surroundings. The building hasn't seen any love in awhile, he supposes. A blanket of dust sits on the floor, marred by crisscrossing footprints that he guesses to be Rika's and the occasional track of what looks like a box having been pushed or dragged along.

But it is clear it had once been a shop, he muses privately as he approaches the other end of the table, laying his fingertips on it idly. He wonders if his own shop is beginning to look the same by now...

...and feels a twinge of homesickness that he quickly quells within himself, looking to Rika as she opens the box.

Inside, nestled in a twist of green tissue paper, is a small vial of amber liquid which has been capped with a simple cork. It is clear that Hitsuga has no access to proper packaging to make the presentation any better, but the bit of green ribbon tied meticulously about the vial's neck suggests that he has, at least, made an effort with what he has.

If she enjoys it, he tells her, it was not a waste. He recalls Lady Rika's feelings on the matter of wearing fragrance from their first meeting, and he will not be offended in the least if she chooses not to apply it. If she likes, when he has the means, he could recreate it in an incense for her.

He shares in her silence, readjusting his mental wall at her comment about the chemists in case his worries about the state of things back home have worked free, and then seems a bit startled by her question. What would he need...? His mind's gears turn, trying to bring up a mental inventory of the things he had back home.

The things he would need to be functional would be the things one would expect to find in a chemist's laboratory -- a source of heat, a source of water, a mortar and pestle, a press, vials, beakers, tongs, tweezers, eyedroppers, pipettes....

He stops before he can ramble further, projecting a reflexive apology for his mind's noise with a sheepish smile. These are things he is sure Gaia has heard of, given what he's seen of it thus far, and he imagines he will be able to find as he can afford them.

Two and two seem to come together with an audible click in Hitsuga's brain as his expression shifts to one of puzzlement and finally bewilderment as he turns to look at Rika with widening eyes.

She--she would offer him.....

oh, my....

The emotions emitting from him do not seem repulsed or frightened, per-sey, moreso overwhelmed by such a gesture for the moment. Clearly, he is not someone accustomed to receiving such generosity from others.

No, no, no...!! He quickly amends, almost frantically, his hands going up in front of himself as if in some mouse-sized effort to halt her current line of thinking on the subject.

It is not terrible at all. He is very grateful. He is....also very happy about the prospect of being allowed to work again in proper conditions. Lady Rika must understand, it just is not at all what he had expected this morning... sweatdrop

It must, indeed...! Hitsuga does not attempt to hide feelings of being impressed from her. To go from nothing to being able to afford property in such a short period of time...such things would have been unheard of in the Golden World.

She had bought supplies also...? He keeps his reaction to this carefully hidden within himself, still feeling heat in his cheeks over having upset her mood from what it had been a moment ago.

Of....of course he can, he assures her. And whatever is there, he's positive, is a far cry better than what he currently has. He thanks her very, very much.

For a moment Hitsuga lingers, unsure of if she intended for him to do it now, or at some point in the near future. He has just made the decision to take his first step in the direction of the door when she speaks once more, making him stop again.

Fight him....? he gently inquires, brow knitting a bit.

Her mention of others intrigues him as he wonders who will be living where. And how many more may be following. ....he keeps that to himself for the moment, however.

He will, of course, visit Lady Rika! 3nodding And once he is able to get things operational, his skills are at her service for whatever she may like for herself or for others. The fragrance she had asked of him is, of course, still his first priority.

His projections are twinged with a humming cocktail of other thoughts and emotions as his mind races. Behind his mental wall, he is thinking of all that will need to be done. First and foremostly, of course, is informing Madame Phaerna...

He finds himself beginning to worry about how she may take it, as she seems to take other things so personally, even when they do not concern her. Letting his eyes fall to Rika's bright smile, however, he places those thoughts on ice to be revisited later as he returns it.

She honors him greatly with such a gift.

Hitsuga immediately moves to follow Rika, and assist moving things if she should like him to.

He flushes again (it seems his face is in a constant state of either anxiety or blush) at the compliment. Rika and whoever has told her that flatter him, but this one is hardly renowned for his artistry. ....as far as he's aware, at least, he adds with a chuckle.

She's correct though, he goes on. He very much WOULD like to devote his full ability to the project he's promised her and any future projects she may want of him without being held back by lack of equipment or resources. If she would like the truth, his current "laboratory" consists of two childrens' kits, some paper towels, and a few handfuls of debris he collected himself in the woods bordering Phaerna's home.

This is why he's sure that anything functional is equally of use to his endeavors.