[To keep.]<br/><br/>The guttering oil lamps cast an orange glow on the towering bookshelves inside the building as Saika was ushered in. Books were crammed into every spare corner. The estate of Tisu Bagci used to be a cheerful place, thirty years ago, full of gardens Genna kept up herself. In the years since then, gloom and neglect had overtaken the mansion.<br/><br/>Tisu had shut down, but rumor had it he was starting to raise his head and return his mind to the world.<br/><br/>If Tisu ever found out who’d killed his wife, they would be in dire straits. As it was, it had been thirty years since anyone had seen the old recluse, and common wisdom had it he’d grown a two-foot beard and had three-inch nails.<br/><br/>The man who was walking away from the door wouldn’t look anything like that, of course. Some scars are purely internal.<br/><br/>The house used to be full of pets and animals, love and life. Now, it seemed Tisu was the only one in the entire mansion.<br/><br/>In fact, as he silently led the young neko through the mansion to the humble kitchen, he pulled the kettle out of the fire with his bare hands himself, with no servant tending on the dragon. He didn't seem to expect Saika to wait on him, either.<br/><br/>in fact, as he brewed the tea, he put out two cups: one for him and one for the boy.<br/><br/>As it brewed, Tisu looked over the fish he’d caught. He had not expected such a cute boy. So small, so fragile, with ears just like his kitsune wife's. The silence stretched, perhaps uncomfortably for the young thing. Tisu had talked to no one for thirty years. It was the talking he found uncomfortable, not the silence.<br/><br/>The ancient dragon was nervous himself, though he hardly showed it. He merely watched the boy for a moment longer, those odd reptilian pupils taking him in.<br/><br/>He was still as any predator, uncomfortably still, lacking normal movement.<br/><br/>“Your name. What is it?” he asked.