[littl3chocobo]

the words surprised him and drawing up short he nodded at the back of the man's head before he caught himself and answered vocally instead. taking felix by the hand he led him back towards the stairs

(instead of going up they will go past, it is a one-room affair with a chair by the fireplace and a desk in the corner, the shelves go up to the ceiling and there is a little slidy ladder, the rug is there too)

[Poggio]

He didn't expect to be whisked further into the unexplored areas of the house, much less into the large room that contained so many hard back versions of books. In one area he saw the ghost of Zosa's father, a desk with neatly stacked paper work and a volume opened to a marked page. He didn't let his eyes linger too long and grew more captivated by the shelves of literature. The professor grinned. "Then you will read to me to night?"

[littl3chocobo]

lightly he chuckled, "i read russian as poorly as i speak russian, and i do not know latin or swedish or danish and the little that is done in english is nothing worth reading. you would be put to sleep but so would i"

[Poggio]

He laughed. "Then that is our next trip around town, to find a library or book store that has English volumes, unless you wish to read my pirate romances." He looked around the vast room until his eyes fell on the dead animal on the floor. He walked over to it, folding his arms over his chest and curling one finger around his mouth in thought.

[littl3chocobo]

he would have offered to help but as soon as his mouth was open the other was already off to stare at the rug, "...it's polar-bear, hundred years old, it was a wild animal if you can believe it but you can't even buy them now"

[Poggio]

He crouched down to the dead animal and touched it, it was very soft and he had only seen one on holograms during his time in school. "Was it real?" He said undecided if he should be disturbed but his fascination was slowly winning out.

[littl3chocobo]

nodding he came over and kneeled right down in the middle, lightly he ran his hands over the soft fur, "yeah, it lived and breathed and ate stuff and lived it's whole life out up until a trophy-hunter found him. my grandfather got him as a gift and my father got him when grandpa died. i used to come here and pet him when i felt lonely"

[Poggio]

The professor raised his eyebrow and reached out and stroked the fur. "Like a pet? Your father would not allow you and Zayats to have a dog? He would have been better then... this fellow." He offered pulling back his arm and sliding down to the ground on top of the rub. Surprised it was yet another thing taller then him. "He is warm."

[littl3chocobo]

"maybe but it is what there was and i would not trade him for any dog." the smile softened nearly flat now, "of all the things in this house this rug is one of the few i have very good memories about, it was not a house for children"

[Ludovico]

He looked at Zosa and reaching out he took the stroking arm and pulled the body down to join him on the rug. "Zosa, you are not a child any more." Twisting his head he nuzzled the crown of black locks. "It is time to make new memories of you and I both." He said the last few words in a singsongy voice and craned his neck to kiss the boy. "I will try to make them happy." He wanted to desperately return the favor for luna and make Zosa smile every waking moment.

[littl3chocobo]

"felix?" he tried to smile for the other there but it was washed off with an upwelling of tears and he had to hide his face against the other. feeling arms close around him he found the ability to speak again, "no... i m always smiling felix...even when it doesn't look like it, because of you..oh felix, all my memories are happy even the difficult ones"

[Ludovico]

The tears spoke to the contrary but he said nothing. Instead he squeezed the boy harder and started to sing in a low voice managing a small smile, letting Zosa have his catharsis.

[littl3chocobo]

he stopped crying almost as soon as the other took up singing his favorite song but he did not bother moving until it had ended and tipping his face gave the other a salty kiss and a true smile, "thankyou"

[Poggio]

"Always for you." He said laying back and looking at the ceiling. "Whats say we go eat our soup now, and then try and find a book to read?"

[littl3chocobo]

nodding he let himself be helped up off of the rug and quietly followed felix back to the bedroom for their breakfast

[Poggio]

It was delicious, even when it was lukewarm. He relished in the meal while leisurely taking a shower and preparing himself to go outside. Though his face showed nothing more then is usual stoicness, the professor was excited to go out into the natural habitat of Russia. He wanted to find that river again and impatiently he waited on Zosa, promising not to leave the boy behind.