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Desiree followed Liam around the house, keeping an eye on him just as Aloysius had said to. Something had happened, something very bad and she’d gotten the short version last night and had felt the tension in Aloysius as he packed her up into the car with them to go to a different home at the crack of dawn. Aloysius had looked okay but she had felt their hand shaking as he had been petting her while he drove.

There were a lot of rooms to explore while the blond slept and she’d been told that she had free roam of the house but to hide near Liam if someone other than him knocked at the door. Hopping up on the counter, farther down and away from Liam, she settled in to watch him. “I’ve never been to this home before, have you?” Watching as they shuffled around to look for something to eat, she flicked her tail curiously. “Are you alright?”

She had noticed the cast on their arm and had heard them struggling with things as they had tried working around it. It was different from when Aloysius had been broken, he’d not had a cast or anyone to help. Back then she’d just curled up and purred, trying to ease their fear and pain. “He should be home before too long, I think he is just finalizing his course syllabus today before classes start next week.” She’d seen the stack of papers piled on the back seat as they all had piled out of the car and into this huge home.

“Oh really? It seems really big for two people. Was this where he grew up?” Moving a bit closer to inspect the electronics on the appliances, she rested her head on her paws and wondered what she would be allowed to toy with. She’d seen the mostly empty fridge except for a few bottles of water and some leftover condiments that were held in the door. It wasn’t a place that looked lived in very much between the lack of food and all the dust. Most of the rooms she had explored looked like they were covered in enough dust to make a snowman out of.

They sounded alright though, which was more than she could say for her musician. “Don’t push yourself like he does, he’s already doing too much by going to work when I know he wants to be here, especially after last night.” Her little phone had buzzed a few times today checking in on the other, making sure nothing had happened, and letting her know that his sister might stop by. The angry one who always tried to hurt him with her words, she really didn’t like them even if they were related to him.

Abandoning the keypad on the dishwasher, she hopped down and thumped into Liam’s leg with her side. “I want fish, salmon if you can. Not in a can but actual fish and maybe pasta.” Thinking of the things she’d been making in the past, there was a list of recipes that Aloysius had made for her that she could now ask for whenever she wanted. “While we wait for them to deliver things, can you tell me about things? You seem to be helping him a lot, he seems to be doing better. What happened last night though? He was shaking this morning on the drive over.”

Swishing her tail as she listened, Desiree looked up at them. “I approve of it, before you came he barely slept, ate, or did anything other than drink and work to near death.” She puffed up a bit from how uncomfortable it was to think about how bad off they’d been and how hard she’d been trying to make sure he got any amount of comfort by curling up by him. Now she could do more but this man had already helped with so much.

“Good, you need to heal up. I hope you can get him to rest more, at least he’s sleeping some every night now.” They hadn’t been staying up for days at a time working on things or staying away for days at a time in the Rift as she learned since getting corrupted.

Trilling happily at their agreement to her request, she circled around their legs. Though the happy purring ceased as he had explained what happened. She’d seen one before, under the floorboards in the home she knew. But it felt much older, hidden inside one of the books full of notes on everything Aloysius had seen since joining the Negaverse. It had brought her up to speed on things but it also made her hurt seeing all the things he’d been through from the point of view of his writings.

They’d told her about the broken arm but not that the senshi had been trying to kill the blond. That was what had shaken the other up and she pressed her side into them and settled down onto their feet to keep them from moving unless they picked her up. “I think he was more scared about losing you than the starseed.” It was a quiet but firm comment as she flicked her tail in thought, trying to think what she could make to help ease the other’s worries. To bring them so far from their home to a place that was away from what had happened where he might suffer but the two of them were safe.

“Well he’s still my musician but I’ll respect his wishes to give himself to you, he’s been better off because of it.” Huffing a bit as she kneaded their slipper with her paw. “Time for you to sit down while we wait for the food. You need to settle since this all happened last night, also because I want you to help me explore later. I know there is a piano in here somewhere, there’s got to be one.”

“Yes, once he is home we can find the piano I want to play. I wish it was for more than an hour, I really do enjoy having hands. I’ve also started getting used to my size then too, I think I might be a bit taller than you.” Settling into the blond’s lap, she was careful not to nudge his cast. Looking around the kitchen, she sized up the spaces above the cabinets and tried figuring out if they would be good places to hide or nap if someone new stopped by. There were enough spaces and rooms she could hide in if needed, she just had to find what worked the best. It had been something she had always been good at even if she had felt bad that they worried she’d left for good. Maybe she’d hidden too well at times but she was there, always watching and making sure they were ok. At least to the best of her ability.

It was a pleasant lie, or maybe… more likely they were scared away from it. She knew why but the fact they had done it again left her conflicted. There had been a reason for it, not related to the Negaverse but still. She didn’t quite enjoy the idea of hands going into chests, she’d come willingly to this side of things but it wasn’t a comfortable feeling. “We can make sure he’s alright when he gets home since he made sure we would be okay by bringing us out here.” Circling a bit more, she turned to look up at him. “I was just as skittish as he was, and still am a bit but you’re a good egg. Can’t say the same for his sister, he told me to keep away from her for now. I wonder if it's for her benefit or mine because I really want to get back at her for being so hurtful to him.” A bit of a growl came out as she thought of the bad night, the one that led to the cot getting tossed out and everything getting shaken up more. It had been for the best in the end but she had heard the pain in their voice in the time between when their sister had left and the blond had arrived. She’d been hiding in the kitchen cabinet just behind them, feeling their sobs and shakes through the door. She hadn’t quite understood it all back then, other than how utterly hurt they had sounded.

“We can start with the rooms on this floor, the piano is bound to be on the ground level I think. There’s a lot of dust though so maybe before the food gets here and before Aloysius gets back.” Squishing her face against their chest for a moment she did one more circling loop before hopping up onto the table. “Do you play too or just him? I know lots of small ones came to his home to learn.” It would be hard for them to play now if they did because of the cast but she was still curious.

“A very good egg. You’re spoiling me almost as much as Aloysius does. I’ll have to feel out a few spots, places to hide.” Purring as they carried him, she’d been used to how Aloysius would have to use both arms to pick her up so it took a bit of adjusting as they had her held in just one. Back legs scrambled just a little as she made sure she wasn’t going to slide out of their hold.

“With a name like that, you would think she’s a pleasant person.” Huffing a bit more, she really didn’t like what she’d heard from them or how often they showed up unannounced. It made it hard to settle, something she had been sure was affecting Aloysius as much as it affected her. Though the interruptions and appearances had gotten sparcer as of late and she wondered if it had been due to Liam.

Ears perked up at the mention of singing, she’d never really heard someone sing much before. Aloysius never did at least and most of the music they listened to didn’t have words either. “It sounds nice, maybe my playing won’t be too bad this time. I think I’m figuring it out just a bit. I guess it would be best if she did turn up while he’s not here though but I hope you won’t mind if I scatter if she does?” She’d stay close enough to hear but out of sight and try to figure out a bit more about the nasty woman.

“That’s true, though me being like this is still a new thing. Part of me wishes I had come to that realization sooner but I doubt I had any say in how it worked out.” Adjusting a bit more they walked her through a few dust-filled rooms. From a drawing room to a storage room, each had tarp-covered furniture and smelled of dust. It made her sneeze a bit and she rubbed her face with her paws, trying to get the dust off her whiskers.

So they were both senshi, one corrupt and one some other type? Mirror walkers is what Aloysius had called them in his journals but other than that she didn’t know much in terms of the specifics. He had said mostly nice things about all the mirror senshi except for one. It made sense why there were full-length mirrors in the home now when Aloysius had otherwise taken the rest down a long time ago.

The next room they stopped in was full of shelves just like back home, each packed to the brim with thin little books of sheet music. “Ah! In here in here I think this is it!” There were more tarp-covered things in here, some tall and some short but everything smelled of wood and dust. She freed herself from his arm and dove under some of the tarps, trying to see what hid beneath them. “Oh, a piano under this one! And… I’m not sure what this is but it has strings?” Popping her head out, she sneezed again and zoomed around looking at all the instruments.

There were so many things here and they all made different light sounds as she bumped and bonked into them, trying to squeeze through spaces that weren’t big enough. Once she’d taken a look at it all, she came back and flopped down on Liam’s slippers. Sneeze after sneeze and she tried to preen the dust off her face and what she could manage from the rest of her fur. “So much dust, there wasn’t even this much dust under the cot.” However, that was probably because Aloysius accessed the space beneath the floorboards under there quite often.

It was a tough choice, she had to ration the time she had as a human since it only worked for an hour a day. Hopping up on the small piano bench she pawed at the closed lid and looked up at Liam so he could open it. “I’m sure that with a place this large, there’s some sort of cleaner maybe. We can figure that out later when he gets back for now I want to see this piano!” She was excited to try it out, not even knowing or thinking about the fact it might be out of tune after sitting for so long.

Fiddling with her phone on the bench, she waited until the lid was open to get a timer set for ten minutes. Just a bit of time before the musician got home and taught her more about how things went. She’d get the lesson out of the way before she and Liam would try and see what was really bothering Aloysius because she didn’t want to risk her not teaching her for the day if they struck a nerve of his.