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D-chan grins at Azumi's reaction. "Personally, when he told me that he'd seen a ghost, I was pretty excited!" she admits. "I've had this thing going on with ghosts for quite some time...they hang around outside my living room window, tell you the truth. They're these little tiny spots of light that I've been calling faerie lights for so long that I can't quit, even though I know that they're really ghosts. My friends can attest to that, though...they've seen them, too."

The half-fox chirps happily as Azumi locates the kitchen. "Great! Tea just seems like a good idea on a day like today." As she pads into the next room, she chuckles to herself. "Normally, I'm not all that lazy when it comes to going places...the walk is always nice, especially since I live in the mountains. It's a long hike, but the scenery is lovely. I use it as an excuse to get out of the house...but we've never actually met any other legends. This is the first time." The fox-girl grabs a tea pot from a nearby shelf and fills it with water, humming cheerfully all the while. "So, how long have you known Morosina?"

Dai nods silently at the little wolf-girl's admission. "I've been reading for a while, but I just can't seem to get through this..." He tilts the book toward Morosina for a moment, as though asking if she recognizes the script. "And...if your mom wouldn't mind taking a look," he murmurs shyly, clutching the book tight to his chest. "It never hurts to run it by her."

D-chan smiles, rummaging about in a high cabinet for the tea she knows must exist. "Ah ha!" she exclaims, dropping back to the floor from her place atop the counter, box in hand. "No good kitchen is complete without a box of tea." This she sets on the counter, waiting patiently for the water to finish its slow creeping boil. "I've always thought that ghosts were interesting...from the time that I went with my parents to the house in the mountains and saw my first faerie lights, to the time we visited the beach and I saw a ghost walking down the seashore every night...they've fascinated me. Almost as much as demons!"

"Oh, you live there, too?" the fox-girl asks, a bright smile lighting her face. "Well, if you head down to the seashore from the pets district of town and head right, you'll eventually see a large house. It's a former bed and breakfast owned by a friend of mine. Keep going and you'll find a forest. Just head straight through and you'll find a little wooden house in a clearing; rather hard to miss, even if the forest is big. There's a path constructed that goes higher into the mountains; follow that, you'll come to a town, turn left and head just outside and you'll find my house. But...you probably didn't need that much detail," she laughs. "Either way, we live about an hour's walk or so from here, in the northern mountains. How about you?"

Dai blinks at the odd little symbol. He stares at it carefully, turning the book this way and that, before giving up and trusting the little wolf-girl. "So you think that your mom can really translate this for me?" he asks. His voice seems a bit drawn, uncertain...as though he doesn't quite want to ask for help yet. Somewhere deep inside, perhaps the boy wants to figure it out on his own...but frustration often gets the better of small children, and it does in this case, as well. "Should we ask?"

"I think I know that place you're talking about!" D-chan chirps, clapping decisively. "I passed through it when I was after Dai. I wound up running through it for the first time then, but I've gone back on occasion because it's just so nice. I never noticed a house, though...probably because I never notice anything unless it's right in front of me. Sometimes not even then!" she laughs. "It is good to know that you're not alone after so long," she replies. The kettle close by begins to whistle faintly, drawing the half-fox's attention. "Ah, good!" she claps, grabbing a conveniently placed oven mit to take the pot off of the bright scarlet burner. From there, she adds in a few tea bags, a smile lighting her face as she turns toward the door. "Hey, kid! Tea's on!"

"She doesn't know that much of the language?" the boy asks. Though his voice carries an edge of crestfallen hope, there is a slight twinge of relief. "But we can still ask, I guess." He watches the small girl bouncing impatiently as he slides off the chair and onto the ground. He is surprised that he stands more than a head taller than her, but not by much. At D-chan's call, though, his face lights up. "Let's hurry!" he urges, taking flight toward the open door and his guardian's call, book clutched tight under his arm.

D-chan smiles down at Morosina as the little girl comes in and tugs at Azumi's pant leg. She says nothing, though, instead moving to the cabinet where the woman had found the mugs earlier and removing two more for the children. She quickly pours tea into each cup before rooting a sugar bowl out from a corner of the counter and scooping four heaping spoonfulls of sugar into her own mug. As Dai comes wandering in after his new friend, the fox-girl picks him up and rests him on the counter. "Your sweet tooth is bigger than mine, so you put in your own sugar," she laughs.

Dai smiles as the half-fox lifts him up into the air. His free hand reaches down to touch her furred wrist gently reveling in her unusual warmth, before taking up the sugar bowl and ladeling out yet more powdery crystals. Upon hearing Azumi's request, though, he looks down at the book now resting in his lap. One hand idly stirs his tea with the spoon provided by his guardian as he hesitantly extends the tome. "Here," he murmurs. "Most of it is almost illegible, but the first few pages are neat enough," he warns.

D-chan watches in barely contained wonder as Dai parts with his book. This is a completely unexpected surprise for her. She had never expected the boy to let anyone touch his book without being in easy reach of it. And yet there Azumi was, staring at it, separated from the boy by more than a meter of counter space and two additional bodies, not to mention a meter drop to the floor. She looks curiously at the boy, ears pricked forward and conveying the shock that she tries to hard to hide.

Dai sips at his tea meekly, barely seeming to notice the flavor. It feels like something is missing when the book is out of reach...he drinks carefully, the steam curling delicately about his pale face, all the while waiting for the return of his most valued possession.

D-chan chuckles at Morosina as she pouts at her tea. "Don't get mad at it," she chuckles. "It's just very hot. If you blow on it, it will cool off." She demonstrates, gently blowing the wisps of steam away before taking a tiny sip. "It also helps if you drink only a little bit at a time," she advises."

Dai looks up as Azumi begins to speak, nodding as she points out different symbols and their meanings. Even so, the text makes no sense to him...the few isolated words blend in with the rest of the text to form an as-of-yet meaningless whole. "Thank you for your help," he says quietly, accepting the book happily and holding it close for a moment before going back to his tea. "I think that it's special, too...there must be some reason that I have it, right?"

D-chan smiles. "What do you think? Is tea right for you?" she asks. It almost seems like she's imitating some commercial...well, she might be, were it not for the fact that she doesn't own a television. "I know it's right for me...and for most of my family, besides Koe. He prefers milk with sugar, as opposed to tea with sugar," she chuckles.

Upon hearing Azumi's words, the half-fox turns her attention toward the windows. The rain falls in buckets, lashing against the windows as the wind blows. A rumble of thunder sounds in her ears. "Yeah, it really is...good thing we took refuge in here," she laughs. "Let's just hope the power doesn't fail."

Dai smiles and nods. "As soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know," he promises quietly. He sips gently at his tea before glancing out the window at the ever present rain of summer. The growl of thuner so clear to his guardian's keen ears is faint for him, but he shakes his head silently nonetheless. "Good thing Kurenai's not here," he murmurs. "She hates this kind of weather."

D-chan blinks down at the tiny wolf-girl. "Ooh...looks like another storm hater," she chuckles weakly. Dai sets his cup down on the counter before the half-fox picks him up and places him back on the floor. As he reaches up, she provides him with the mug that he so desires. His relatively small hand clings to the cup firmly as he holds the book tight under his arm.

"We have a little fenthry at our house," Dai fills in, looking back up at Morosina and Azumi. "She's really scared of thunderstorms. They make her heart start beating hard and fast and shaky." He pauses here, looking up at his guardian worriedly. "Do you think Kurenai's okay? What if they got the storm, too?"

"If they did feel the storm and get the thunder, I'm sure Danyeh and Grei handled it all," she assures him. "And there's always Kaen, after all," she adds quickly. "You know how close they are, fenthry and sparieh. I think it has something to do with the fact that they're both red," she laughs.

"But Hoshi and Koe and Kaju get along well and they're exact opposites," he reminds the fox-girl.

"Oh, yeah," she mutters. "Ah, well. Maybe it's just with those two." As Azumi mentions candles, the half-fox cocks her head. "Wait, candles? Why do we need those--" And here she stops, hitting her forehead with one black-furred hand. "Right, right, dead brain. Well, shall Dai and I begin the search?" she volunteers, striking up a heroic pose. Dai rolls his eyes and sips at his tea as he scoots out of the room to begin the search, leaving D-chan to snicker at herself and trot after him.